


hanahaki // a borderlands fanfiction [ON INDEFINITE HIATUS]

by thomas_claims



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst with a Happy Ending, Don't Read This, Hanahaki Disease, I Don't Even Know, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Sorry, Multi, Please Kill Me, Rhys as Jack's PA, Slow Burn, Timhelm - Freeform, angel is worried for her papa and is an angel, honestly angel is best girl, how to tag: a guide, i think there's enough timhelm to tag it, jack is in love and he can't handle it, rhack - Freeform, rhys is in love and he honestly doesn't know what to do, this was inspired by aesthetics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2018-12-23 04:50:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 48,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11982525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thomas_claims/pseuds/thomas_claims
Summary: Rhys knew deep down that he was gonna die. No, not now, not any time soon - but he would a lot sooner than he should.It was because of the Hanahaki Disease. You fall in love, flowers bloom in your lungs and you cough them up until you confess. If you confess, it goes away, whether they love you back or not. If you don't, the flowers basically choke you to death. Plain and simple, right?Well, yeah, sure - until you factor in Rhys's problem. He can't confess his love for risk of losing his job, or even worse, his job, his dignity and his life.After all, who in their right mind could admit their love to Handsome Jack and live, metaphorically or otherwise?





	1. Chapter 1

"Alright, Rhys, I'm gonna say this real slow for you, just to get it through your thick skull to your tiny brain. I know, I know, it's hard for you to understand some things because you're an idiot, so that's why I'm making accomadations for you."

Rhys had to make his eyes resist rolling at the sound of Vasquez's condescending bullshit spew. Were he not so attached to his job, he'd have told Vasquez to shove it and hit the road a long time ago, but he loved his job at the Hyperion Corporation, and he loved bringing home thousands of dollars every month, so he kept his head down and his mouth shut.

Vasquez leaned against the door jamb with a stack of papers in his hand. He kept his eyes down, on the paper, so he, thankfully, didn't see the disgusted faces Rhys was making. "Okay. I need you. To run these numbers. Then deliver - which means take to someone - them back to me. Before you clock out. Do you. Understand. What I. Am saying."

Rhys did roll his eyes that time. "You give me the same damn instructions every freakin' day, so, in reality, I got it the first time."

Vasquez glared.

Rhys sighed and let his eyes roll again. "Yes, sir, I understand."

"Good job, kiddo." Vasquez slipped the stack of papers right under Rhys's right elbow, just to piss him off. He knocked on the metal and walked towards the door with a dismissive wave. "Back to work, lackey. I'll be in my office, so if you need me, don't."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Rhys muttered to himself, getting started on the stack.

As Vasquez left, Vaughn entered, watching Vasquez leave for a moment there. "What did Wallethead want?"

Rhys snorted with a small smirk. "He was just giving me more work to do and was being an ass while he did so. You know, the usual."

"Yeah, yeah, sounds about right." Vaughn hopped up onto Rhys's desk and glanced around the room. "At least he finally gave you an office as his assistant."

Rhys sighed. "I'm starting to think that the office was just an apology in advance for all the bullshit he was planning on giving me."

Vaughn snorted at that, leaning back on his palms and lightly swinging his feet some. "You really think Vasquez would apologize?"

Rhys pursed his lips and paused for a moment before responding. "Good point."

Vaughn hopped back off the desk and strolled around the room, his arms crossed. "This office is pretty swanky though. It's better than mine and I'm head treasurer."

Rhys shrugged. "I'm five steps below the CEO. I think it makes a little sense for me to have a better office."

The shorter man scoffed. "Whatever, wise ass. Rub it on in that you're the big cheese in our friend group."

"I'm the big friend in general. I'm the tallest." Rhys grinned. "And you're the smallest."

"I am five-feet-four-inches of pure rage."

"Suuure you are. And I'm the Queen of England."

"Wow, Your Majesty, you sure have changed." Vaughn turned to face Rhys. "Anyway, I came in here with a purpose. Yvette wants to grab lunch with Fiona and Sasha and I came up here to ask you if you wanted to tag along with us."

Rhys sighed heavily. "That sounds actually amazing. Let's go. I need a damn break."

\--

Lunch was nice, going back to work wasn't, and at the end of the day, when Rhys got home, he wanted to detach his own arm and throw it across the room just for the fuck of it and being able to at least control some form of action in his life.

The better half of him decided against throwing his arm, however, in favor of just ordering Chinese food and putting on some Netflix.

While he waited on his X-Box to load up and the Chinese to arrive, he went up to his room and changed into some sweats and a hoodie. The perfect lounging attire, it was, and he wanted comfort and warmth as well as wiggle room. He kept his mismatched socks on, and he hurried back downstairs for fear of missing the Chinese food guy. It normally only took them less than ten minutes for them to get there, and it had already been about five, so he didn't chance missing them and parked his posterior right on the middle seat of the couch and waited, turning on Netflix and playing the last show he watched just for some noise. When the Chinese guy arrived, Rhys snapped himself out of the zoned-out blank stare he was in and answered the door, receiving and paying for his food then plopping right back down on the couch. The smell of the oily, greasy food gave him ghost cramps, but made his hungry stomach growl and his mouth water. He reached for the bag of egg rolls with a grin, and that grin dropped as he heard his phone ring from the counter where he left it.

"You gotta be dunkin' my donuts," Rhys muttered before going for the phone. He looked at the caller ID and gagged. It was Vasquez, and when he called this late, it was never good. (Then again, there was never really an instance where Vasquez called and it was good, either.) He answered with a swipe of his thumb. "Hello?"

"Rhys, it's me. I just received an email. A very serious email. Concerning you."

Rhys's insides turned to ice. Vasquez was giving him The Business Voice, and he sounded so serious that it gave Rhys heart palpitations. "C-concerning me? From who?"

"That's why it's very serious." He paused, and with the way he did it, it made Rhys think that he was contemplating telling him the truth. Rhys waited with bated breath. When Vasquez spoke again, he jumped. "It's from.. It's from Jack. As in the CEO. As in the guy who signs both of our paychecks. He wants to see you tomorrow morning at nine sharp."

Rhys froze. His knees turned into water and his stomach churned. "W-why does- how does- w-what?"

"I don't know, I don't know, and I don't know." Vasquez heavily sighed. "I don't know why he wants to see you at all. You're just a lackey."

"Wow, thanks for that one, Vasquez."

"I'm serious, Rhys. The fact that the CEO of our workplace, the CEO of one of the most successful businesses in the world, wants to meet with you... It can only be bad things. I can't imagine a scenario where it would be good. He only talks to us little guys when we're about to get cut out."

Rhys bit the inside of his cheek. "Maybe it's some kind of behavioral infracation... Have you reported me at all?"

"Surprisingly, no. You've got a clean slate this work term. It's really... confusing." Vasquez sounded a bit bitter. "On a separate but related note, I'm especially pissed because it was about you, the email was. Jack Hyperion finally emails me and it's about my underling."

Rhys groaned. "Yet again, you get me with those confidence boosters." He sighed heavily. "I don't know if I can stomach anything right now, but I'm gonna try to eat my dinner. Unless you had anything else to-"

Vasquez hung up.

Rhys bit his lip thoughtfullly as he tossed his phone onto the couch. Jack Hyperion... wants to see him? In the morning? At nine sharp?

He took a deep breath, let it out slowly. Did it a couple more times.

Then he ate a wonton, packed the rest of the food up, put it all in the fridge, took a shower, and went to bed.

After all, he did have a big day ahead of him. If we was going to get his head handed to him on a silver platter and ultimately fired, he might as well be ready for it.


	2. Chapter 2

Rhys was a shaking, trembling bundle of nerves when he showed up to work the next morning. He couldn't will himself to stand still, and his heart wouldn't slow down either. His friends did their best in trying to comfort him and tell him there was nothing to worry about, but it was hard to hear them over the sound of blood rushing in his ears.

When Vaughn and Yvette broke away from him to go to their respective departments after boarding the elevator, Rhys wanted to run with them. What if Jack was waiting in his office? Right outside his door? What if he was waiting in the elevator bay?

But as the door shut, and the elevator began to rise again, Rhys felt like a cow being led to the slaughter. Like he was taking a proverbial march to the gallows.

Before Rhys stepped out of the elevator, he checked his watch. He had thirteen minutes to get to Jack's office... Would he appreciate Rhys being a bit early? Or would that tick him off? Vasquez had a bunch of lore stories about past employees of Jack that were supposedly never heard from again - but now he was starting to think that there was some truth to the stories, even though before he had been willing to bet money that Vasquez was completely insane.

He decided to go with the early approach and went on up five more floors to the eightieth. The eightieth floor, mysterious and daunting - only few had come back alive, but they were all too scared to tell the tale. Maybe Rhys could be the turning point. Maybe, after he was fired, he could just spill all the Hyperion secrets he knows to the press and sell them out.

Rhys sighed. Who the hell was he kidding? The only "Hyperion secret" he had was about Vasquez's stupid hair implants.

Rhys's watch flashed the numbers eight-fifty at him when he checked again on the eightieth floor. He was exactly ten minutes early, and for that he was grateful. It was good amount to be early with, ten minutes. Five was too short, fifteen was too long. Ten was good.

Rhys shook the rambling about time out of his brain as he walked up on the black sleek door. A medium-sized gold plate read JACK HYPERION in a stern, strong script, and below it read Hyperion CEO. Just reading the name had Rhys scared for his life, and he was ready to get it over with, but he also never wanted it to begin. His stomach was doing gymnastics, his heart was beating a mile a minute, and his head was spinning. Maybe it was the altitude. Maybe it was his anxiety. It was probably both.

Before his brain could talk him out of it, he reached up and knocked quickly, three times on the door. With bated breath, he waited on a response.

"Who is it?" boomed a voice from behind the door. Rhys almost jumped out of his skin. "I'm very busy and I have a conference with a worker in ten minutes."

Rhys felt a sense of importance at Jack considering their little meeting a conference, provided that was what he was talking about. Rhys swallowed hard before calling out, "Rhys Bennett, s-sir. I'm here a bit early, I hope it isn't an inconvenience."

There was silence on the other side for a moment, then heavy footsteps trailing from the opposite end of the room to the door. Rhys braced himself as the door was swung open, ready to meet with-

Wow, okay. This guy was shorter than expected.

Handsome Jack - Jack Hyperion, rather - stood ahead of Rhys, looking slightly expectant. His brown hair was carefully careless, pushed back in a windblown coiff. Rhys was just close enough to see the stark difference in his eyes, one emerald green, the other azure blue. There was something off about his face, and Rhys knew it wasn't the hinges, he'd seen the hinges in pictures on the covers of newspapers and magazines. It was... off-colored? It was paler than the rest of him. Maybe. It might've been the lighting.

Anyway, he was dressed a bit haphazardly, for a CEO. He wore a goldenrod Hyperion shirt beneath a black blazer, ripped pipe-leg jeans, and beaten up Converse. A watch and a leather cuff adorned his wrists, along with tattoos along his forearms. Glasses sat on low on his nose.

He looked... normal? Not like a psycho businessman that was ready to skin him alive and eat him for lunch, but more like... just an average guy. Well, not 'average' average; they didn't call him Handsome Jack for nothing. He was freakin' drop-dead gorgeous, but Rhys couldn't exactly say that to his employer.

"Rhys Bennett," Jack said, as if he were trying to decide if he liked the feeling of his name in his mouth, the sound of it rolling off his tongue. He gave a lopsided smirk. "Hi, Rhys Bennett. I'm Jack Hyperion, but you knew that already, didn't you?"

Rhys stared at him. He didn't know what to say. Could he even talk? All words he had originally thought he could say had fallen dead on his tongue.

Jack snapped right beneath his nose. "Is there a light on in there, pumpkin? Hellooo, is anybody home?"

Rhys jolted and swallowed hard. "S-sorry, sir, I-I'm here, yes, um- I-I'm a bit nervous, admittedly, I-I didn't expect to be c-called up to your office a-anytime soon."

Jack raised a questioning eyebrow, smirk growing some. "Why is that?"

Rhys shrunk into himself. "I-I'm not really sure..."

Jack gave a chuckle. "Get in here, cupcake. We need to chat."

Before Rhys could even attempt to take a step forward, Jack had him by the wrist and pulled him inside while shutting the door. Rhys immediately started to panic. Oh, God, this is where it ends, this is where Jack shuts off the niceness and attacks him with the fierceness of a Rottweiler. 

Jack let go of Rhys's wrist to walk towards his desk. "Want a drink or anything? I can get an intern to literally bring me anything, so whatever you want, it's yours."

Rhys suddenly realized he was in dire need of some coffee, so he tentatively said, "Uh... some coffee would be nice, to be honest with you."

"Ooo, you're right. I was driving my little girl to school and completely forgot to get myself some before coming here. Is Starbucks okay?"

"S-sure, sir."

Jack picked up his company phone and punched in a few numbers. He waited for a beat before speaking. "Hey, Amy, it's Jack. Would you mind making a coffee run for me? ...Great, one sec. I've got someone in here. Let me ask him what he wants." Jack moved the receiver away from his mouth and leaned towards Rhys. "Whatcha want?"

"Um- a Venti White Chocolate Mocha with soy milk? I-if that's okay."

"That's fine, kiddo. Is that it? You want a croissant or something?"

"N-no, thank you, sir."

"Keep calling me 'sir' and I'll buy you the whole damn menu," Jack said with a wink. He laughed lightly as he turned his attention back to the phone. "Right, so two Ventis, one White Chocolate Mocha with soy milk and the other an... Iced skinny hazelnut macchiato, sugar-free syrup, extra shot, light ice, no whip. Got that? ...Oh, good! I'm glad you've learned to start writing it down. Do you still have the company cards? ...Great! You're on top of it today, I'm proud of you. Try to get them to me within the hour? ...Thanks, dollface. See you soon."

Jack placed the phone back into the cradle and rounded his desk to sit in his chair, tapping his fingers on the armrests. "So. Despite all the niceness and everything, you're probably still wondering what I called you up here for."

Rhys swallowed, his mouth feeling very dry all of a sudden. "R-right... listen, s-sir, I-I don't know what's happening here, but I-I want you to know that I very much value my job here at Hyperion and I don't want to lose it, and I'm sorry for whatever I-I might've done in order for you to, um.. you know, fire me."

Jack seemed taken aback. "What? Fire you? That's not what this is about."

Rhys's eyes widened. What did he say? "I-it's not?"

"No! What the- did Hugo psyche you up? He does that to everyone below him, the little assface- I'm gonna wring his damn neck after we talk about this..."

"U-uh, sir, with all due respect, I-I'd rather you didn't do that. It'll just come back to haunt me later because I got him in trouble-"

"Well, that's the thing. I'm hoping that after this conversation you won't be under his thumb, should you agree. Then again, why would you not want to take me up on this?"

Rhys thought for a moment. "T-take... take you up on what?"

Jack folded his hands together on top of his desk and grinned. "Rhys, I have a very important question to ask you. An opportunity, really. You get to be up here with me, all day every day, and you get a bigger paycheck. No more Wallethead, no more having to run his paperwork - and yes, I've known it was you the whole time, the proper spelling on the write-ups told me that - and all that with just a simple yes."

Rhys might as well have been dreaming. That sounded fucking incredible. "What is it?"

Jack smiled, leaning back in his chair. "Be my assitant. Well, my executive and administrative secretary, but assistant is faster and easier to say. My daughter will probably call you the longer thing, should you meet her. She's a fan of huge words."

Rhys practically gaped. "You want me- you want me to be your assitant?"

"Yup! You'll be getting twice, hell, maybe even three times as much as you were with Ass-quez and you'll be a lot happier, I think. I mean, sure, you'll see me want to strangle people and sometimes you will see me strangle people - but it'll be great, pumpkin, I swear. And all you gotta do is take my calls and schedule my meetings, and then tag along with me to said meetings. Think you can do that, kiddo? Sound good?"

Rhys was already agreeing in his head. "That sounds like the best job I've ever been offered, sir, so yes, it sounds good."

Jack grinned so big his jaw could've broken and it wouldn't have surprised Rhys in the slightest. "Great. You'll take the office right over there-" - he pointed to the right of him, Rhys's left, at a misty-glass-and-crimson-metal door - "-and you'll start tomorrow, just so you can get used to the feel of the room first. In fact, I'll get interns to arrange your office for you so you can go tell everyone the good news."

At that moment, an intern with bushy red curls and a cute face came in, balancing a cardboard cupholder on her hand like she had been trained to do it. "Here's your coffee, Mr. Hyperion, sir."

"Thank you, Amanda," Jack said, barely even seeming to acknowledge her as she placed the coffee down.

"Ah, it's Amy, sir."

"Hm? Oh. Amy. Thank you." He looked at her for just a moment. "Could you do one more thing for me?"

"Of course, sir."

"Gather the rest of the interns in order to move everything from Mr. Bennett's office five floors down and move it into the side office in here. Have this done in a timely fashion, please." He gave her a lopsided grin and a gentle gaze. "If you wouldn't mind, anyway."

The intern's cheeks flushed, and she averted her gaze with a bashful smile. "O-Of course, Mr. Hyperion, sir, I'll go gather the others and get it done for you immediately."

Jack winked at her when their eyes met again. "Thanks, doll. You've been a real peach today."

The intern left quickly in order to do what Jack said. When the door shut behind her, he rolled his eyes and sneered. "Those interns are so friggin' frustrating sometimes. They listen really well, though. I'm sure if I asked one of them to drop to their knees and suck me off, they probably would and thank me for the experience later."

Rhys blanched at the talk of such sexual things, especially with his boss. "Um, yeah, I'm sure they would too, sir."

Jack took his coffee and smirked. "You're already getting the hang of it. I'm gonna let you out of here now, cupcake, and I'll call you if I need you back. Feel free to stroll around or go out to the park or something. I'll find you."

Rhys smiled wide and grabbed his coffee as he stood. "Thank you, sir, I'm grateful for the opportunity. You won't regret this."

"Oh, I'm sure I won't. Let's hope you don't regret it either, huh?"

After Jack offered a laugh first, Rhys laughed with him, and he began to walk out. Jack called for him just as he reached the door. "Oh, and Rhys?"

Rhys turned back to face Jack. "Yes, sir?"

The CEO grinned sweetly, but the malice in his voice said anything but sweet. "I'm going to call Vasquez up here when you leave. If you pass him on your way down, be sure to rub it in his face that you're my assistant now and that he's going to catch some hell for this, okay, cupcake?"

Rhys nodded with a small smile. "Yes, sir. I'll be happy to."

And with that, Rhys left, a smile on his face, a spring in his step and a drink in his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok ok I KNOW jack seems just a little too nice but i have talked to my editor (tysm @mistyumbreon <3 ) about it and it'll all make sense later i s w e a r
> 
> come yell at me on tumblr: mystic-choi  
> scream in my face on insta: local.emo


	3. Chapter 3

When Rhys had made it down to the level where Vaughn worked, he was only slightly surprised to see Yvette and Vaughn already talking at Vaughn's desk.

"I just knew he had the meeting today, I didn't know it was with Jack up until the last minute," Yvette was saying. "And you had to tell me that."

"I'm honestly scared he's dead," Vaughn replied. "He said that Vasquez told him that there was no way it was anything good."

"Uh, guys, I'm right here," Rhys said as he walked towards them. "I'm very much here and very much alive."

"Rhys!" the two of them exclaimed as they ran to him. They both hugged and squeezed him, and Rhys only slightly felt like his lungs were caving in.

"We thought you were gone forever," Vaughn said into Rhys's shoulder.

"Or at the very least fired," Yvette added with her face buried in Rhys's neck.

When they pulled away from him, both of their eyes seemed to zero in on the Starbucks drink in his hand. Vaughn took it immediately and squinted at it.

"Who bought you this? This is a five-dollar drink. You normally get tall because it's cheaper," Vaughn said accusingly.

"Hey, his was like, fifteen dollars probably, so I don't wanna hear any downing about my at-least-cheaper-than-his choice."

Yvette looked at him quizzically. "Cheaper than whose?"

Rhys flushed a bit. "Oh, um, ya know... Jack's?"

"So wait... Handsome Jack let you live... and bought you Starbucks?!" Vaughn inhaled sharply and handed the drink back to Rhys before looking to Yvette, eyes wide in mock panic. "I have reason to believe that Rhys and Handsome Jack are now romantically involved in some kind of sugar-daddy arrangement."

Yvette smirked a little before looking to Rhys earnestly. "What happened up there?"

Rhys took a small sip of his drink before answering. "Well, um, he asked me to be his personal assistant and I said yes."

Yvette and Vaughn reacted the same way. "You what?!"

"I-I know, I know! It's crazy, I know, but he... wants me to be his secretary-assistant-type... thing. I arrange his meetings and take his phone calls and that's basically it. He said my pay would triple!"

Yvette looked at Vaughn with the same mock panic. "This is definitely a sugar-daddy situation."

Rhys groaned. "Guys, this is not a sugar-daddy situation. Do I seriously look like the kind of guy who could be a... I don't know, sugar baby? Is that what they're called?"

"The fact that you knew what they were called only gives me more reason to believe that you are, in fact, his confectionary infant," Vaughn said with a shake of his head.

Yvette offered a small smile. "All jokes aside though, this is crazy. You're getting paid to spend time with Handsome Jack, and to not spend time with Vasquez. It's the dream."

Rhys smiled back at her. "I know. I feel like I've been asleep all this time and I'm gonna wake up any minute." He glanced at the watch on his wrist. "So, before this dream is over, how about a celebratory breakfast at that diner place down the street? I mean, I'm gonna be making more money now, so it's only right that I buy everyone's breakfast, right?"

"With your sugar daddy money? Sure," Vaughn commented as the three of them walked in-step. "But really, like Yvette said, this is a pretty sweet set-up. How does Ass-quez feel about it?"

Rhys shrugged. "Dunno. Jack was about to call him up just as I was leaving."

"You don't think he's gonna try and get back at you or anything, right?" Yvette asked.

Rhys rolled his eyes so hard it made his head hurt. "I hope not. I know he's immature but there's gotta be a limit somewhere. I'm gonna hit the bathroom, and then let's just get out of here for the time being, just in case he does try to find me or something to... I don't know, beat me up and take my lunch money."

Rhys passed off his drink to Vaughn before striding quickly to the restroom, wanting to be as quick as possible to make his chances of running into Vasquez that much slimmer.

A tickle caught in his throat just as the door to the toilets thudded shut. He coughed and cleared his throat to try and get rid of it, to no avail. It felt as if something was actually in his throat, just sitting there and not wanting to move.

After a bit more coughing and trying to dislodge whatever was there, he decided to just reach in there and pull out whatever it was with his first and middle fingers. When his fingers brushed it, it scared him, but he pulled it out quickly to avoid gagging too much, squeezing his eyes shut tight.

When he opened his eyes to look at the object, his heart nearly stopped. It was small, thin and decorated in blues and greens and yellows.

It was a rose petal. A single one. Which could only mean one thing.

Rhys was in love.

And he was scared, because he knew exactly who it was. There was only one person it could've been.

At the sound of the bathroom door opening, Rhys immediately ripped the rose petal up and threw the pieces into the garbage can. Vaughn poked his head inside. "You alright in here bro?"

"U-uh, y-yeah! I was just- um- fixing my hair."

"Oh. Well. Stop primping and hurry up, Yvette's getting antsy."

"Y-yeah, I-I'll be right out."

Vaughn left with a simple nod. Rhys looked at himself in the mirror and thought about himself methodically.

'My name is Rhys Bennett,' he started. 'I am twenty-four years old, and I'm in love with someone. That someone is almost definitely my boss, the infamous Handsome Jack.'

\--

After breakfast, Rhys told Vaughn to alert all the supervisors that he wasn't feeling well. Vaughn vowed to cover for him and Yvette swore to secrecy, for which he was grateful, and he went home to think about things, to mull things over.

When he walked into his apartment, he felt odd and different. His apartment was still in the slight disarray that it was in before, and nothing had changed, but it felt strange to him. Foreign. Like he had never been there before. Or maybe it was because he knew he was different. That everything would be different.

Rhys inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. He was overthinking things again. Nothing was different. Not really.

Other than the fact that he was in love with Handsome fucking Jack.

Okay, so... maybe a little different.

Rhys sighed and kicked the door shut behind him as he tossed his keys into the little dish by the coatrack, on the small table there. Just as he was about to lay down on the couch, his phone dinged from his back pocket. He pulled it out and read the little notification - a message from an unknown number.

'So you aren't coming back today?'

Rhys raised an eyebrow. Who the hell was this, and how did they have his number? He decided to ask.

'Um... no? Who is this?'

Before he could even put the phone fully in his pocket, he got a response and he looked at the phone again.

'Oh, that's right. You don't have my number. Save it. It's Jack.'

Rhys's heart kicked into the fastest gear, going a mile minute. He noticed his hands beginning to quake as he saved the contact and replied, 'Oh! Okay! Sorry sir. I got sick at breakfast and needed to come home for the day. Is there anything you need me to do?'

Ding. 'No, not necessarily. You'll just have a bit of a full plate when you come in tomorrow. I get here around seven am, so feel free to be a little later than that, considering that you can't get to your office without me being there lol'

'Alright! Sounds like a plan to me. I'm sorry again for the inconvenience, sir.'

'Don't apologize, pumpkin. See you tomorrow xx'

The double-x at the end made Rhys cry out in surprise as he dropped his phone on the floor. He covered his mouth and nose with both his hands, staring at the phone on the floor. Maybe he did that to everybody. Maybe that was just his thing. People do that platonically, right? Or did he know? Could he tell? Oh God, what if it was just so glaringly obvious as he was leaving and now Jack was just toying with him?

Rhys swallowed thickly and knelt down to pick up his phone, shooting back as nonchalant a reply as he could muster. 'See you tomorrow, sir, have a good evening!'

He turned his ringer off then and locked it, slipping it back into his pocket and taking a deep breath. He didn't want to see the reply, if there was one. He just wanted to go to forget today even happened. There was so much weighing on him now, and it was making him slightly nauseous to think about. In one fell swoop, he had a new boss, he was in love, and he was in love with that new boss.

Taking another deep breath, he scratched the back of his neck with his flesh hand and generated his ECHO with the other, ringing Vaughn. Vaughn answered almost immediately, his face appearing with concern etched into his features.

"Hey, bro," Rhys said tiredly. He felt extremely drained all of a sudden. "I have a question to ask you."

"Um, okay, what is it?" Vaughn's voice sounded tinny and metallic through the receiver.

"Can you look up the longest anyone's ever lived with the Hanahaki Disease?"

"Why did you call me to ask me something Google could've told you?"

"Just do it, okay?"

"Okay, fine, one sec." Vaughn's focus shifted to something off-screen for a moment. "Uh, it says here... ten years, seven months, three weeks and six days. That's the record. The average is six to eight years." Vaughn's eyes slid over suspiciously. "Why do you need to know?"

"I was just curious. I was watching one of those shows where they set up the people to tell the person they're in love with that they're in love with them."

"Oh, jeez, what's that called? I know what you're talking about."

"I don't know, it was one of the billions just like it. That's all I needed. Thanks, bro."

"No problem, bro. Are you coming in to work tomorrow?"

"U-uh, yeah, I should be. Are you gonna ride with me or Yvette?"

"Eh. I'll decide in the morning. I might just drive myself. I feel like I bought my car just to look at it." Vaughn chuckled to himself. "But I'll let you know what I decide."

"Alright. Just don't leave me waiting around forever."

"You got it. See you tomorrow."

Vaughn signed off then, and Rhys closed the screen as he lowered his arm to his side. Six to eight years. That wasn't... too bad, Rhys decided. He was already twenty-four, so living to be anywhere from thirty to thirty-two would be fine.

Well, c'mon, let's be serious - the disease will absolutely be what did him in. He couldn't admit his true feelings to Jack, especially not since becoming his freaking assistant. It would be so damn embarrassing to say it out loud to Jack, blushing and stuttering and pathetic. And, in the theatre of Rhys's imagination, his reaction was never positive; at the very least, Jack was unaffected and gave no bother about it, while at the very most, Jack lost his friggin' mind and actually shot him dead where he stood. 

So, he was fine with only having six to eight years left to live, at the mercy of this damn disease. Choking to death on the rose petals that bloomed of his love for someone was definitely more poetic and a hell of a lot better than choking to death because he was being strangled by his boss (who was, coincidentally, also the person he was in love with).

Rhys coughed a bit hard and covered his mouth as he did so, with both hands. When he pulled his hands away, another rose petal rested there, identical to the one he had coughed up in the bathroom, blue and green and yellow, soft and curling at the lip of the petal. He pursed his lips into a slight pout as he closed his hand around the thing, not wanting to look at it. He went to the kitchen and threw the petal away, same as he did with the first - and then he promptly turned on his heel out of the kitchen, refusing to think about it any longer.

As he strode towards the stairs, he sighed. Who was he kidding? He could try to refuse to think about it all he wanted, but that would make no difference in the end.

The Hanahaki Disease had him by the throat - well, by the lungs, in a more literal sense - and had no intentions of letting him go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just to have it here:
> 
> rhys is twenty-four, jack is thirty-two
> 
> everyone else's ages will become apparent later in the story, probably, but i just wanted everyone to be clear on how old jackie and rhysie were, just so no one had to go digging for it c:


	4. Chapter 4

It was around five in the afternoon when Jack was walking in through his front door, blazer already off and glasses hanging off his shirt. "Angel, Daddy's home! You here?"

"Kitchen!" came a girl's reply from a room to the left. Angel poked her head through the doorway. "Aren't you a bit early, Dad?"

"Oh, no, today was slow. And I got an assistant today, so all the extra busy work I had to do I set up for him to do tomorrow." Jack walked over to his daughter, kissing her head as he passed and went into the kitchen. "Whatcha doin' in here, kiddo?"

"Nothing, just studying... and eating all the grapes we had. I went ahead and added it to the list of things we need to get at the store when we go shopping this weekend."

Jack mockingly groaned. "Why can't you be like a normal fourteen-year-old and eat junk food all the time and play on your phone instead of studying and eating all my grapes?"

"Sorry. You still have other snacks in the house. And you can have all the cherries since I ate all the grapes."

"You and I both know that I will give you all the cherries you want despite you eating all my grapes."

"I know. That's why I said you can have them. So I won't feel guilty for eating those, too, since we're all out of grapes."

Jack chuckled to himself. "Angel, my dearest, darling baby girl, you are insufferable."

"Why thank you," she said with a bright, wide smile, the same smile that Jack saw in the mirror in the morning. She sat back down at the island, where her homework was splayed in front of her. "Will you get a bottle of water for me?"

"Yeah, sure," Jack said as he opened the refrigerator. He grabbed two bottles and handed one to Angel as he sat across from her. "How was school today?"

"Don't even get me started," she said as she rolled her eyes and shook her head, something she was getting incredibly good at. "Girls telling me how hot my dad is, boys telling me how hot I am, then a combination of the genders to tell me that I'm a pretentious bitch-"

"Language, baby girl!"

"Oh, um- pretentious... female dog?"

Jack rolled his eyes with a smile. "I'll allow it. But did they really say pretentious or are you just making them sound smart again?"

"Hey, I'll hand it to them, I'm sure a few of them know what pretentious means... if they can spell it, though, that's a different ball game altogether."

Jack laughed as he cracked open his bottle of water. "I'm glad you were blessed with my sarcasm and general condescending outlook."

"Me too. I don't know if I would've survived this long if I hadn't been." Angel opened her own bottle of water and took a sip before continuing. "So, let's hop back a bit. You have an assistant now?"

Jack took a long gulp of his own water as he nodded. "Yeah, I do. His name's Rhys and he's pretty... soft? I don't know how else to describe him and still sound masculine. I can't call him cute or anything, so... soft. That works, right?"

"I guess. I'm sure he is soft."

"He's got a baby face, Angel. You wouldn't believe it."

"When do I get to meet this assistant of yours?" Angel put her chin in the palm of her hand with a small grin.

"I dunno... I need to let him get used to my antics before I break out the upgraded version, A-K-A, you."

"I'm an upgrade?"

"Well, of course, Angel. You're me, but better."

Angel's cheeks got a bit rosy. "Daaaaad..."

"What? I can't say things like that when your friends are around, so I have to seize my opportunities when they appear to me." Jack got up and chugged the rest of his water before throwing the bottle into the green recycling bin beside the garbage can. "I'm gonna go up to my study to do some more business-y CEO stuff to get a headstart on tomorrow, okay?"

"Do you care if I come in after I'm done with all my homework?" Angel asked as Jack kissed her cheek.

"You know the rules. Knock first-"

"Knock first, no response, it's no. Knock first and there is a response, it's yes."

"Good job." He ruffled her hair before walking out of the kitchen. "But I'll be upstairs if you need me, okay, baby girl?"

"I know, and I'll most likely still be here if you need me."

Jack smiled over his shoulder before hanging a left to go up the staircase, then, once he reached the top of the stairs, headed straight to his study at the end of the hall.

As soon as he shut the door behind himself, he pulled out his phone and hit #2 on the speed dial, then he put the phone to his ear and he waited as the phone rang.

"This is Tim," came a voice from the other line.

"Tim, it's Jack. You got a minute?"

"Yeah, o' course. What's up?"

Jack sighed and flopped into the recliner chair beside the bookcase. "I did a thing today and I don't know how you're gonna feel about it. It's got to do with my... thing."

"What thing?" Timothy only sounded slightly tentative.

"You know, the thing. That one thing that's been bothering me for the last few years."

"Ohhh, okay. That thing. What'd you do?"

Jack heard a bottle crinkle, and could only assume Timothy was drinking something. "Um... I made him my assistant."

A choking, spitting sound could be heard from the other line. "You did what?!"

"I made Rhys my assistant?"

"Jack. You're messing with me. You aren't serious."

"I am."

"Nooo, no you're not, you're just dicking around like you always do and you're trying to see if I'll fall for it. You aren't this dumb."

"Ha, well, the thing about that is that I am that dumb, and I really did it. Rhys Bennett is now my personal assistant and his office should be up and running by tomorrow morning."

Timothy caught his breath from his choking fit just moments ago before continuing. "Jack, do you know how badly you just screwed yourself over?"

Jack sighed and scrubbed his face with his free hand. "I knew you were gonna say something like that."

"Why, because it's true?"

"It's not true!"

"It is!"

"And what makes you say that, hm?"

"...Because you've been in love with this guy for six fucking years and it's gonna be awkward as hell to tell him that, Jack, and it's gonna be even worse now that he's your friggin' assistant."

"Hey, if I have to see him every day it'll be easier!"

"That's not how it works, Jack! If you have to see him every day you'll build a connection with him, and then where he thinks you guys are just friends, you're gonna literally atomic bomb him with this and there will be so many freakin' casualties I don't even know who to begin with. This. Was. A. Bad. Idea. And you went through with it anyway!" Timothy took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly, and when he continued, his voice was careful and even. "Jack. You've been coughing up rose petals that are literally the essence of this kid for six years. And you gain a rose petal with every month that passes, so that's, what, seventy-two months? So almost one-hundred rose petals. I'm surprised you aren't dead yet."

"I'm not surprised, of course I'm still alive! I'm freakin' immortal." He waited for Timothy to at least give a chuckle, and when he didn't, Jack sighed. "I'm trying to joke about this, Timmy."

"Aren't you always trying to joke about this?" Timothy's voice sounded tight, strained. "It's always a joke with you, even your own damn death, right?"

"Timothy-"

"Don't, Jack. Don't." Timothy drew in a shaky breath then. "You've been putting off telling him to save face, or to keep your fragile fucking masculinity intact or some other ridiculous crap reason, and you've been basically killing yourself while doing it. There's not gonna be anything I can do when you suffocate, and I don't think Angel's gonna appreciate being left behind either, considering that she doesn't even know about it."

Jack pondered that for a minute. "Tim.. look, I know you're worried. I know that you're worried about losing your big brother. But you shouldn't be, okay? You're not going to lose me, or at least not any time soon. I'll tell him after I get to know him more. I only know the kid's name right now."

"Yeah, but it's different if you only knew that same thing six years ago when you fell in love with him at his interview. It should be different now. It should be done and over with. Either he loved you back or he didn't and that was it. You shouldn't still be coughing up rose petals. Yet here you are."

Jack didn't know how to respond.

"You've really backed yourself into a corner here, Jack. I really wish you had asked me what I thought so I could've talked you out of it. It's not like you can just tell him to get lost now."

"What if this ends up working?"

"What do you mean, if this ends up working?"

"Like, what if this helps me tell him after all, and then we leave it there or we fall in love or whatever the crap?"

"Then it works and I was wrong. But this isn't some work of fiction, Jack. Things aren't gonna play out like they do in the movies."

"They don't have to. They just have to work with me instead of against me and everything will be good."

"...I'm only choosing to believe you because there's no talking you out of what you've already set your mind to. But please... if you don't have to wait, please, don't friggin' wait and tell him already. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Promise?"

"Swear."

"Pinkie swear?"

"Timmy, we're both grown men. A pinkie swear should not be an actual foundation of trust for you."

"It is and you know that. Now, I ask again - pinkie swear?"

Jack sighed with a smile on his face. "Pinkie swear."

"Good." Timothy sighed. For only being twenty-six, he sounded tired, like an old soul who couldn't seem to get enough rest. Jack wouldn't doubt a kindred soul resting in Tim. The kid was a saint. "I'm gonna hop back off of here. I was gonna try and catch up on my shows, but you've already given me enough emotional turmoil to last me the rest of the night. I think I'm just gonna try and lie down."

"Okay, Tim. I'll see you 'round, alright?"

"Mhm."

"Love you, kid."

"Love you too."

Jack hung up then, pocketing his phone and immediately kicking himself up out of his chair. He felt it coming; he had gotten used to the feeling of the petals crawling up his throat and threatening to spill.

He had only barely made it to the bathroom and knelt himself down in front of the toilet before the petals began cascading out of his mouth. Brown-and-blue petal after brown-and-blue petal fell as he retched and coughed, trying his damnedest to get them out faster than they were willing to do it. Coughing up the worthless things made him feel awful; it always made his head spin and his heart race, which wasn't exactly his favorite thing in the world. After he hacked up the last few petals, he curled up on the white linoleum and tried to catch his breath. His chest heaved and ached, but he was relieved at the temporary absence of the ever-present pressure in his ribcage.

He remembers the day like it was yesterday, the day he fell in love. He had been interviewing people for the position just below Vasquez, and Rhys came in and was just smiley and dopey enough, not over-poweringly so, stuttering and stumbling over himself all innocent and cute, and Jack's heart thudded a lot harder in his chest every time he gave him that million-dollar smile. And, consequently, just after Rhys left, Jack found it on his tongue - a blue-and-brown rose petal. It made his stomach turn to lead, and the only people he told were Timothy, Nisha and Moxxi. They advised that he go to Rhys immediately, and he always said, 'tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow'. But, tomorrow never came, and suddenly six years had passed by and Jack still hadn't told Rhys a single thing.

Gently, Jack laid his sweaty forehead to the cold floor, still trying to catch his breath. He felt as if he'd had the shit beat out of him, like he did every time. There was nothing poetic or beautiful about the situation he was in, like every article and memoir about it had said it would be. It was pathetic, disgusting, and made him feel downright terrible.

After giving himself a few minutes to catch himself and a few more minutes to think, he pulled himself from the floor and shuffled back into the study, going to back to his recliner and sitting down with a low groan. He felt drained, exhausted, but no amount of sleep in the world could fix his problem. It was the special kind of tired that rest couldn't help.

A knock at the door jolted him out of whatever train of thought he was in. "Dad? Is it alright if I come in?"

Jack's heart warmed at the sound of his daughter's voice. He smiled softly before calling out, "C'mon in, baby girl, Daddy's just resting."

Angel came in with a book in her hand and a smile on her face. "I don't know why you talk about yourself in third person, let alone call yourself Daddy. I haven't called you that since... well, since Mom passed away."

Jack smiled sadly now, his smile breaking a bit at the edges. "Yeah, I know... Maybe it's just a way of staying connected to the way we were back before tragedy struck. Forgive me."

"Oh, Dad, c'mon. You're gonna make me cry." Angel came over to the recliner and wedged herself into the small space Jack left, cuddling up tight against him. She looked up at him with a smile. "I know it's been hard, since it's just us now, but... it's you and me against the world, remember?"

Jack kissed her forehead gently, brushing her bangs away from her face. "That's right, baby girl. You and me versus whatever this world can throw at us."

With that answer, Angel was content, and she opened her book and began to read. Jack laid his head on top of hers, and, before he knew it, was lulling into a deep sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Although she was angry with him, Angel loved her dad with every single bit of her heart and soul. He wasn't her whole world, but he was everything in it, and he was the only parent she had now. She wouldn't admit it, however, how much she really loved him. That secret would follow her to the grave.

The reason why she was angry with him was simple: she felt somewhat betrayed by him, and with very good reason. He was hiding things from her, even though he promised - no, he lied - and said that he would never hide anything from her. Despite this, she knew everything about him (because, c'mon, Angel's not dumb and her dad's awful about keeping secrets), even the biggest part of him - he was in love, infected with the Hanahaki Disease.

And even though she had no idea who the other person was, she was almost one hundred percent sure that he had been hiding it for way too long.

Angel looked up from her book to find her dad sleeping soundly, head resting gently against hers. She nudged him softly to move his head off of hers so she could stand, and she kicked into gear, going through her "Dad Passed Out In The Chair Again" routine for what seemed like the millionth time.

She closed her book and laid it on the small table by the chair, then carefully undid the clasps for his mask. It took a bit of fighting with the chin clip, but she got it off without waking her dad even in the slightest, and that's what she was thankful for. Then she went to the closet in his study, pulling out a blanket and covering him with it. She tucked the edges of the blanket in, then kissed his forehead before taking her book and his mask and sneaking quietly out of the room.

After putting her dad's mask in a safe place in his room, Angel went to her own room and, without turning on the light, flopped onto the bed face-first. She turned her face to the side so she could breathe as she shoved her arms beneath her pillow.

Her phone began to ring from her back pocket, jingling loudly and obnoxiously. Angel groaned and answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey, love."

Angel's irritation melted away at the sound of Gaige's voice. She sat up straight and let a smile break across her face. "Hey, you. I was wondering when you'd call me."

"Eh. I waited because I figured you were being a goody-two-shoes and doing your homework," Gaige replied. Bed springs creaked in the background, as if someone was rolling over.

Angel sighed and lay back on her bed, staring up at the glow-in-the-dark stars that she had stuck to the ceiling since she was three. "Yeah, I was, and then I went to go check on my dad. I heard him on the phone with Uncle Tim."

"Oh yeah? What's up?"

"I don't know. I only heard the tail end of the conversation, and even then I only heard Dad's half. But then I heard the bathroom door get slammed open and... well, you know."

"He's ridiculous. It's had to have been at least two years now, so that's literally insane for him to still be puking." Gaige paused a moment before continuing. "It only took you a couple months to admit your love to me."

"I know! I don't know what's going on with him!" Angel scoffed. "But it's not like I can tell him that to inspire him or something. He'd kill us both. You for being my girlfriend, and then me for keeping it from him. And being in love in the first place."

"But that would be hypocritical as frick. He's keeping you out of his love life, so it's only fair that you give him the same treatment, Angie."

Angel swooned a bit at the petname, but she continued anyway. "If you're expecting my dad to be fair and understanding, then I'm not sure that you've actually met my dad, in which case that needs to change, like, now."

Gaige snorted. "I have met your dad. I don't know what I was thinking."

They were both quiet for a second. Angel was content just listening to Gaige's breathing. She could hear the television in the background, but she couldn't make out what was playing.

"I love you," Angel said easily, breathing it out. She normally said it in breaks of silence like the one they were having.

"Hey, what a coincidence. I love you, too," Gaige replied. With the way she said it, you could tell she was smiling.

"I'm worried about my dad."

"I know."

"I don't want this stupid disease to take him from me."

"I know. It won't."

"You don't know that."

"Your dad's too stubborn to let flower petals kill him, Angie."

"It won't be his choice if they suffocate him in his sleep." Angel's voice broke a bit towards the end. "It could sneak up on him, he could die and I wouldn't know-"

"Whoa, whoa, Angel, baby, calm down," Gaige said softly, comfortingly. "It's gonna be okay."

"You don't know that, how many times do I have to say that?" Angel sniffed and wiped her eyes with her hoodie sleeve. "I'm just so scared of losing him. Every night he comes home late I'm afraid the worst has happened and he died in his office or something..."

"You think too much, you know that? My girlfriend’s an overthinker. She is. I should announce it to the world."

Angel smiled a bit, giving a weak laugh. "Shut up, dork."

"Hey, you love me."

"I do. But that doesn't make you any less of a dork."

"My girlfriend’s an overthinker and your girlfriend’s a dork."

"Sounds about right."

They talked late into the night, closer to eleven. After saying their goodnights and signing off, Angel kicked off her jeans and threw off her hoodie, then pulled her nightshirt out of the dresser beside her bed. She tugged it on over her head and then pulled the blankets up and around her, burying herself in them. The silence that surrounded her was deafening, and it gave her time to think.

Angel didn't like the idea of him dying, her father. She hated it, really, but that was commonplace for a child, wasn't it? When she was young, she thought he was immortal, unable to die - she thought that of both her parents. In reality, she thought death just... wouldn't touch them.

But when her mother died, it all became very, very real.

Tears sprang to Angel's eyes even though she fought to keep them back as she remembered that day. She was only six then, and she and her parents were on their way to Uncle Tim's place. Then there was a slam, screams, the sounds of metal grinding on metal... Glass twinkled in her hair and there was a big gash on her leg, but she was mostly worried about how her mother wasn't moving, wasn't responding to how Jack called for her to just open her eyes and look at him.

There was a lot of firsts that day. That was the first time Angel ever rode in an ambulance, and it was the first time she had ever broken a bone (well, bones - she broke the bones of the arch of her right foot, along with her right leg.)

It was both the first time and the last time that she had ever seen her dad cry, but she knew that it wasn't just sadness. It was sadness, anger, confusion and panic all rolled into one, and he had let it out. He screamed, punched the car horn, pulled his hair - Angel watched it all as she was being put into the back of an ambulance.

Angel sobbed a bit quietly to herself just in case her dad had moved into his room and could hear her. She turned her face into her pillow and got out a few good screams before calming herself down, steadying her breathing and trying to sleep, ridding her brain of the memory. Soon enough, sleep clamped onto her body and black overtook her vision as she swirled into the temporary oblivion.

\--

Over the next few weeks, Rhys almost had a panic attack every day at work, only barely being able to look Jack in the face knowing he was in love with him. Jack's niceties never faltered once, save for the one time he came in to Rhys's office to scream about Tassiter for a few minutes. (Though, that one didn't really count. Jack apologized right after and offered to buy him lunch, which Rhys graciously refused.) On the bright side of that, Rhys had one of the most intimidating men in the world smiling at him like he was the sun; on the not-so-bright side, it only had made Rhys fall harder and deeper into his love for Jack, which was weird - but felt so comfortable and warm that it made him wonder if it really was such a bad thing to be in love with his boss to begin with.

The answer to that was yes, it was, and Rhys was ultimately crazy for thinking otherwise, even if it was for just a second.

He still hadn't told any of his friends, and there were close calls - moments where he would have to cough into a napkin to hide the petal at lunches with Yvette and Vaughn, times spent with Fiona and Sasha where he would excuse himself to flush the petal down the toilet... Even Jack himself had commented a few times on Rhys's crazy coughs.

"That cough sounds god damn awful," Jack had said once, before a meeting. "Are you sure you're not coming down with something? Maybe an upper respiratory thing?"

"N-no, no, I'm fine!" Rhys had assured just a bit too quickly. "J-just allergies - y'know, fall being just around the corner and all, haha..."

"Oh. Well, yeah. You should still see a doctor about getting some allergy meds or something. You can't be sounding like you have bronchitis all the damn time. Ain't nobody got time for that."

Truth be told, Rhys hated the disease more than he had ever hated anything, ever. (And Hugo Vasquez exists. Remember that.) Why couldn't the symptom be something quiet, like a tattoo or something? No, you just had to sound like a smoker dying of lung cancer because you were dumb and in love and all that jazz.

Today, Rhys had come in a little early, just a few minutes before Jack did. He waited patiently outside Jack's office, arms hugging some finished paperwork in a manila folder, which he was careful not to bend. He tapped his feet, ticked his head from side to side to a beat in his head.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jack had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, scaring Rhys half-to-death and making him jump with a small yelp.

"You scared me!" Rhys said accusingly while blushing hotly, half out of embarrassment and half out of simply being flustered. Jack always looked so handsome in the mornings, well-rested and calm before the work day started. After it was all over, he was still handsome, but he was worn out and irritable. Moral of the story: Rhys preferred Morning Jack to Evening Jack. Afternoon Jack didn't have a dog in this race, because he was variable; there were days where Jack spent his lunch talking to his daughter on the phone and then there were days where he was strangling some blank-faced-drone-worker type almost to death.

Rhys inwardly groaned at himself. He had a "favorite Jack"? And it was because that Jack was in the morning when he was prettiest? 'Ugh,' he thought to himself. 'Somebody beat me with a stapler.'

"How ya feelin' today, cupcake?" Jack asked with a smirk as he unlocked the office doors. "Aside from me scaring you to death."

"P-pretty good, sir," Rhys replied as they walked into the office, trying to be nonchalant. "How are you?"

"I've been up since five in the morning, but, surprisingly, I'm not mad about it." Jack gave a chuckle as he rounded his desk to sit in his chair. "But let me go ahead and beg your forgiveness if I fall asleep on the job."

"Well, if anyone's entitled to that right, it'd be you, sir," Rhys added with a gentle smile. He immediately turned away however, his smile feeling too big. Could it have been too big? Was it too warm? Would Jack say anything?

If Jack did notice, he didn't act like it; he just booted up his computer and opened the blinds on his windows. "So, I'm in the mood for ordering up some breakfast. Whatcha want?"

"Um-" Rhys outstretched his robotic arm and pulled up today's agenda. "I'm in the mood to remind you that you have a meeting in an hour and it'll take forty-five minutes for us to get to the venue of said meeting. It's downtown."

Jack was quiet, a bit too quiet for Rhys's comfort, but he said nothing and just waited silently. Eventually, Jack sighed heavily and stood, stretching his arms above his head. "Right, right. God damn it. I forgot. Who is it even with?"

"Professor Nakayama, sir. He has a prototype for a new prosthetic, I think."

"Fuck, I remember now. Why did I have to put my lab downtown? Why am I so dumb?" Jack snapped his eyes to Rhys in a warning. "Don't answer that. It was rhetorical."

"I didn't plan on answering to begin with, to be completely honest with you," Rhys muttered.

Jack went to the bathroom, calling over his shoulder that he wanted to take a leak before they left so they didn't have to stop anywhere, which gave Rhys ample time to dig the flower petal out of his throat and throw it in the paper shredder before getting his satchel from his office. He was sliding his laptop into the biggest pocket of his bag just as Jack came stumbling out of the bathroom, face red and eyes glassy, coughing into his hand.

"Holy jeez-" Rhys rushed over to his boss to help him steady himself. "Oh my God, are you okay, sir? You look like you just got done dying in there-"

"I-I'm fine, Rhys, thank you," Jack said hoarsely. He kept his eyes averted from Rhys's gaze. "I just got a little dizzy, that's it."

"That must've been one hell of a pee, if it made you dizzy," Rhys said with a slightly breathless laugh.

Jack returned the laugh with one of his own. "Yeah, it was, definitely."

They met eyes then. Jack's gaze went in Rhys's direction, and Rhys only noticed at that moment how close they were. Jack was crowded into Rhys's arms, hands rested on the crooks of Rhys's elbows; Rhys's hands were holding Jack's lower biceps, right before the bends of his arms. Rhys's cheeks burned, like there was fire beneath his skin. He felt the heat radiating from his cheeks and blooming on the tips of his ears.

Jack looked... something. He wasn't mad, he wasn't confused, he wasn't neutrally-faced, but there was definitely something. It was a bit strange, seeing sweat above where the edge of the mask was, but Rhys had gotten used to seeing things past it. There was something lingering ever so faintly in Jack's two-tone eyes, something truthful and raw, but Rhys couldn't make out exactly what. It was obvious that Jack was hiding it, whatever it was, and Rhys wanted nothing more than to implore. He wanted to do a lot of things in this position right now, like kiss Jack senseless and run his fingers through his hair while he did it-

"Rhys," Jack said softly, so quiet that Rhys almost didn't hear him. "You should let me go now."

"Oh!" Rhys's hands flew from Jack's arms and he brought his arms up in front of him, hands in a surrender stance. "Sorry, for, um... holding you...?"

"Nah, don't worry about it. Most people would kill to be that close, and I would kill them for being that close. You, I don't mind so much. Just- you know, don't make a friggin' habit out of it. I don't like to be touched. Unless it's a pretty someone and they've got their hands somewhere other than my arms, if you catch my drift." Jack laughed and smacked Rhys's back. "C'mon, kiddo, let's get this show on the road. I hate being late for shit."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you realized the 'ain't nobody got time for that' reference towards the middle of the chapter, congrats, you just made my day and ily <3
> 
> remember to yell at me on my social medias or comment if you have any questions !!
> 
> tumblr: mystic-choi  
> insta: local.emo


	6. Chapter 6

There were two petals.

Just a few days later, Rhys woke up and two petals fell from his mouth. Two. Not just one, but two. Two.

One petal equaled an initiation, a beginning. One could mean a moment, an hour, a day, maybe even just a week of being in love with someone. But two... that was the end of the first month and the beginning of the second. That was only one more than just one, but in Rhys's head, it meant more than just one. It meant too much.

Had it really already been a full month? There was no way. Was there? Maybe. Maybe... Was Rhys missing days? Weeks? This past month - since the proof was in the pudding, the fact that there was two petals in his mouth - had been a blur, a huge one at that.

On the other hand, besides being completely freaked, Rhys found it kind of nice that he had been in love for a month. It was... sweet, in a way. He had fallen in love with someone and kept that love alive, and he had evidence of it, no matter how disgusting the evidence was. (Yeah, flower puke wasn't exactly Rhys's idea of 'romantic' or anything. But it was still evidence!)

Rhys sighed and walked out of his bathroom, turning off the light as he went. He moved to stand in front of the closet and began to get dressed, tugging clothes off their hangers and putting them over his arm.

And that's when his ECHO began to beep, signalling that someone was calling.

Rhys jumped and threw his clothes on the bed in a flurried panic. He answered the call with a shaky, "Hello?"

Jack appeared in the small holographic screen, clean-shaven and well-dressed. "Morning, cupcake."

"Oh, um- good morning, sir. How are you?"

"Terrible. I'm at the office and Vasquez came in and immediately my mood was soured."

Rhys snorted. "I get that more than you could probably ever understand."

"I'm sure of it. I've never had to work under him, but somehow, he just... I don't know. He comes in and instantly I want to punch him. I want to punch him and anyone who would try to stand in the way of me punching him. But to be real, who would try to stop me from punching that bag of garbage?"

"Why don't you just fire him?"

"That's easy. Pity." Jack smirked a bit and leaned his chin into his palm. "So, where are you, kiddo?" 

"I'm about to be on my way, sir. I've just got to get dressed. Is there something you need?"

"Not necessarily. Maybe I just missed you."

Rhys's face flushed. 'Did he really just say that?' he thought. 'Oh my God, did he really just say that?' "Um.. thank you, sir? I missed you too?"

Jack chuckled. "I was kidding, but it's nice to know you miss me. I do need something, though. On your way here, can you grab us some coffee? You can just put it on the company tab. You know my order, right?"

"Your usual or your 'special occasion' coffee?"

"Mm.. y'know what? Just get me a Pumpkin Spice Latte. It's not too early for that, right? It's around September."

Rhys paused for a moment. "Sir, it's October. Pumpkin Spice Lattes were just released about a week ago."

"October? What day is it?"

"Um.. the seventh?"

"What?! Already?!"

"Um, yes- sir, what's going on? You don't have any meetings today-"

"I know I don't, Rhys, Jesus Christ- just- I gotta go. I might still be gone when you get here. I'll be back. Hold down the fort, okay, pumpkin?"

Jack signed off before Rhys could answer. In a state of confusion, Rhys stared at the spot above his hand where Jack's face was, the small screen having blinked out when Jack ended the call.

\--

Jack launched himself from his seat and practically ran to the elevator, slamming his hand into the button to close the doors and send him straight down to the car park below the building.

How did he not realize it was the seventh? The seventh was his petal day. 'Pissy Petal Day', as Moxxi so lovingly called it, in reference to how irritable Jack got when someone mentioned it.

Seventy-three petals were now blooming in his chest. Jack placed a hand over his heart, which beat hard against his fingers, and sighed. Seventy-three! Seventy-three petals. Seventy-three months. That was over two thousand days, fifty-three thousand hours, three million minutes, one-hundred-ninety million seconds. He had done the conversions at first out of boredom, and now he couldn't stop even if his life depended on it, no matter how much worse it made him feel. He'd gone over them so many times in his head that they were a second language to him at this point; there was no such thing as stopping it.

When the elevator dinged and the doors opened, Jack strode directly to his car that was parked by the elevator. He unlocked the car with the remote on his keychain, and as the butterfly door opened, he immediately climbed in and shut the door behind him. He shoved the key into the ignition, gunned it into reverse, put it in drive and sped the hell out of there, going up the ramp onto the street and into the sunshine. He ran every red light and blew through every stop sign on his way to his destination; he broke the speed limit and was flipping people off left and right.

When he got to his destination, a little bungalow on the outskirts of the city with a yard and a cute little driveway, he basically threw the door open and yanked himself out of the car. He slammed the door shut with a loud, gunshot-like bang.

"What the f- why are you here and not at work, you moron?"

Nisha Kadam stood on the porch in jean shorts and a tank top, her bangs pinned back out of her face. Her lips were pursed and her hands were on her hips, one eybrow raised questioningly.

Jack walked up on the porch and kissed her cheek as he walked into the house. "Nice to see you, too, Nish."

"You put skidmarks in the grass again," Nisha said as she followed him inside. "I have to re-sod that, you know. Your ass won't do it even though you should."

"I'll pay someone to do it for you, sweetpea."

"Don't patronize me."

Jack plopped down on the couch and ran a hand through his hair. "Where's Mox? I need her to punch me in the ribs."

"The store. But I can punch you in the ribs."

"I need someone to punch me and not break my bones. I just need to cough."

"I can hit you on the back?"

"You'll break my spine. I want to get rid of the new petal before I puke it up, not break my spine and never walk again."

"Breaking your spine could also kill you."

"I don't want that either, surprisingly."

Nisha sat on the opposite end of the couch, crossing her legs and folding her hands in her lap. "So. New petal today."

"Yup. I had to call Rhys and tell him that I would probably be gone when he got to the office," Jack said, laying his head back and stretching his legs out.

"How's telling him going?"

"Uh, well, that's the thing-"

"It isn't, is it."

"Um. No."

Nisha groaned and turned her body to fully face him. "Jackson Michelle Hyperion-"

"That's not my name, Nisha- where did Michelle even come from-?"

"-I swear to God that I'm gonna choke you to death before the petals can."

"Nisha Kadam, are you threatening me?"

"I'm not threatening. I'm promising."

At that moment, Moxxi walked in with her arms full of groceries. She looked over in Nisha and Jack's direction and smiled. "Jack. Glad you're here. You can help." She tipped her head towards the door. "There's more groceries in the car."

After Jack and Nisha went outside and got the rest of the bags of food and things, Moxxi made coffee for the three of them and they all sat at the dining room table.

"So, Jackie," Moxxi said sweetly with a smile, "what're you here for?"

"It's the seventh, babe," Nisha said, putting her chin in the palm of her hand. "He needs you to punch him."

Moxxi took a sip of her coffee and nodded slowly. "Oh right. It completely slipped my mind."

"Yeah, mine too," Jack sighed. "Rhys inadvertently reminded me. I asked him to get me a Pumpkin Spice Latte, I asked if it was too early for that, he was all-" - Jack raised the tone of his voice a bit - "-'Oh, but sir, it's the seventh of October, Pumpkin Spice Lattes have been on sale for a few days.'" Jack took a huge gulp of his coffee before setting it down. "And then I panicked, jumped off the phone, and sped over here all quick-like."

"Well, I guess after we finish our coffee I can hit you in the ribs and send you on your way, sugar," Moxxi replied.

Jack winked at her. "Thanks, Mox. I can always count on you to punch me in the ribs."

As they were finishing their coffee, Jack thought about the little tradition they had began when Jack first fell in love, Moxxi punching him in the ribs.

It was after his first love had died, Angel's mother, his wife. He had already coughed up the single black petal the year before, which signified Jack's coming-to-terms with her death and the end of their love altogether.

But when Jack fell in love with Rhys, Moxxi and Nisha refused to believe it unless they saw it for themselves.

"Show me!" Moxxi had yelled, bouncing on the balls of her feet. She had just gotten in from the bar for the night, and she was tired but this had hyped her right back up. "I wanna see!"

"I already coughed it up for the day, Moxxi," Jack had tried to reason. "I can't cough up another one until later..."

"Why didn't you keep it?!"

"It was covered in saliva! My saliva! It's gross!"

"It's your DNA!"

"Still saliva, still gross!"

Moxxi paused for a second in thought, then she looked Jack dead in the face. "Let me knock the wind out of you."

Jack barked a harsh laugh. "I don't fuckin' think so, Moxxi."

"Let me hit you in the ribs so you cough and then the petal will come out!"

"I'm not gonna let you punch me in the-"

Moxxi swung low and hit Jack in the lower chest, right where his ribcage came together. He grunted and coughed hard on impact, and he dropped to his knees. He wrapped his arms around his stomach, curling into himself. He kept coughing, harder and harder, trying to catch his breath. "Oh my God- Mox- why," he said in and between coughs.

"C'mon, I don't hit that hard," Moxxi said, kneeling down. "Just cough it up already!"

Almost immediately, the petal came out, and Jack fell onto his side, groaning pathetically. Moxxi moved to put his head on her lap, and she ran her fingers through his hair. "Good job, Jackie. I'm proud."

"I'm dying," Jack said lowly, breathing heavily.

"No, you're not." Nisha came over and knelt down as well, her eyes on the petal. "If you can survive one of my gut punches then you can definitely live through Moxxi's."

"She caught me in the ribs," Jack sighed, his breath finally caught up. "Not the gut. There's a huge difference."

Moxxi and Nisha both inspected the petal closely. Moxxi reached into one of her coat pockets and pulled out a handkerchief, then picked up the petal with it. She held it closer to her face.

"Do you know who it is?" Nisha asked, leaning closer to the petal.

"I do." Jack sighed heavily, turning onto his back and staring up at the ceiling. "His name is Rhys. I interviewed him this morning for the position under Vasquez."

Nisha whistled. "You're in trouble now. You're in love with an employee."

"I know. I don't know what I'm gonna do."

Twenty-six-year-old Jack and thirty-two-year-old Jack were in the same boat, because, just like six years ago, Jack still had no idea what the fuck he was gonna do.

After they finished their coffee, the three of them went to the master bathroom. Jack prepped himself to get slammed in the chest as he used bobby pins to pin his hair back so it wasn't falling in his face. Moxxi stood beside him, using the mirror as she took off her make-up.

"Ready, Mox?" Jack asked as he stepped away from the mirror.

With one last swipe of a make-up remover, Moxxi got the last bit of her make-up off. "Ready as always, hon." Moxxi stepped back and turned her whole body to face him. "You know, I always love the seventh day of each month. I get to punch you! I get to punch you twelve times a year!"

"I can make myself cough, you know," Jack told her.

"Yeah, yeah. You say that yet you don't do it."

"Maybe I like the way you hit me."

"Don't make it weird."

"Everyone in this house knows my kinks."

"Unfortunately."

Moxxi tightened her hand into a fist and slammed into Jack's lower sternum. Jack immediately dropped and started hacking up the flower petals into the toilet, falling easily and freely from his mouth.

"Can you believe that there's seventy-three of those things now?" Nisha commented from where she stood in the doorway. She leaned against the doorjamb. "I remember back when Jack was barely even coughing up three of them."

After Jack was done expelling the god-forsaken petals from his lungs, he panted heavily as he looked up at the two ladies behind hooded eyes. "I remember your stupid haircut back then too, with half your head shaved and the light pink tips on your bangs."

"Shut up, silver streak," Nisha laughed as she grinned. "You've had the same hairstyle since high school."

"And you've had the same-sized tits since elementary."

After Jack cleaned himself up and shared another cup of coffee with Moxxi and Nisha, he decided he better make it to work before Rhys started calling him and asking him where the hell he was. (Though, if Rhys were to call him all worried, he really wouldn't mind.) As Jack drove back into the city towards the office, he really had time to think.

In all seriousness, he had no plan. He had no straws to grasp at, he he had no rope to cling to. He had nothing, even after six years to think about and formulate a plan.

And boy oh boy, did that piss him off.

He wanted to have something, at least. He wanted to have even the smallest little inkling of an idea. But nooo, no no no - his brain wasn't functioning well at all in that department.

"Fuck my brain, man," Jack muttered to himself as he pulled into the underground parking garage. He parked his car and hopped on out, slamming the door and locking it with the remote. He pressed the button for the elevator and waited. The doors slid shut and the elevator began its ascension into the air. Jack leaned back into the corner and scrolled through his phone, swiping through news apps. 

Not a minute later, the elevator suddenly stopped, which caused Jack to wobble a bit. He furrowed his brow as he started asking himself questions. 'What the fuck? Who's getting on here? Why are they using the main elevator and not the freight elevator?'

A light ding sounded and the doors slid open, and there he stood: a short guy with short, dark hair and rectangle-frame glasses. He had a messenger bag strapped across his chest, and he wore a button-up shirt with a bow tie and vest, along with dark jeans. Jack could've swore he knew him from somewhere... but where?

His eyes widened when they landed on Jack, and he looked like he was about to explode. His face flushed out of embarrassment. "O-oh, Mr. Hyperion, sir! I-I had no idea that you weren't in your office- I was coming up to see Rhys, if that was okay?"

'Oh, yeah, that's right. This is Rhys's best friend,' Jack thought to himself. 'What's his name? It starts with a... V, doesn't it?' Jack shook the thoughts out for a moment. "Uh, yeah. Just get on already."

"I mean, I can wait if you'd rather go up alone-"

Jack groaned and rolled his eyes. "Just get in the fucking elevator, kid. Jeez."

He stepped in quickly after that, keeping his eyes down as his face flushed even more. "S-sorry, sir."

In the silence that thickened the air, Jack's thoughts of trying to remember the kid's name came back. 'What is his fucking name? It's a V name. Those aren't common. Victor? No, no. Vann? No... it's something hipster-ish.'

"So, um, sir, if you don't mind me asking," the other guy said, looking up but not meeting Jack's eyes, "why aren't you in your office this morning?"

'Vinny. Vinyl. Vacuum cleaner. God damn it, it starts with a V!' "Business."

"Ah. Makes sense. I should've figured."

Back to the silence. Jack let out a little cough into his elbow and continued to scroll on his phone, but the little cough suddenly was a very, very big cough. A someone-hand-me-a-bag-or-these-petals-are-going-everywhere cough. He started to cough harder, breathing in fast and choking on it.

"O-oh my God, are you alright, Mr. Hyperion?!"

"Fuck- no," Jack choked out, falling onto his knees. "Q-quick- what's- in- your- bag?"

"U-um- nothing, really, just my laptop-"

"Take it out- then- give me- the bag- okay? I'll- get you- a new one- just- give it- to me-"

The short man pulled his laptop out and handed the satchel to Jack. Jack snatched the bag away from him and immediately coughed into it, petals flying out of his mouth.

The shorter man gasped loudly. "Oh my God- you've got the Hanahaki Disease?!"

"Shut up," Jack coughed out, stray petals still falling. "Keep your fucking voice down, would you?"

One final cough and the damn things were out. Jack slumped against the wall, gulping in air and trying to catch his breath. Jack felt eyes staring holes into him, so he looked over - only to find that the guy wasn't looking at him at all, but at the stray petals that had spilled out of the bag and onto the elevator floor. Jack hurried to pick them up and shove them into the bag.

"Brown and blue." The shorter man straightened his glasses. He furrowed his brow and said it again. "Brown and blue... Why is that making me think of someone?"

'Oh no,' Jack thought, tensing up.

"It's right on the tip of my tongue..."

'Dear God, no, please, no.'

The realization seemed to hit the guy like a freight train. His wild eyes met Jack's. "O-oh my God- you're in love- you're in love with Rhys!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jack's car, in case you're wondering? applebottomtexas.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/black-butterfly-doors.jpg?w=396
> 
> EVERYONE YELL AT ME EVERYWHERE
> 
> tumblr: mystic-choi  
> insta: local.emo


	7. Chapter 7

Vaughn felt like he had just been let in on the secret to life. His boss - as in Mr. Jack Hyperion, universal billionaire - was in love with his best friend - as in Rhys Bennett, universal billionaire's assistant. He didn't know what to do with the information. Should he tell Rhys? Should he forget all about it?

Jack shot straight to his feet and slammed Vaughn up against the wall. His fists were curled into Vaughn's shirt, gripping so tightly that his arms were shaking.

"If you tell anyone, and I mean anyone, especially Rhys, about what you've seen," Jack growled lowly through gritted teeth, "then I will personally dismember you, hang your limbs up on my wall, then put your decapitated head in a box and ship it to your parents for Christmas, do you fucking hear me... whatever your name is?"

"I-It's Vaughn, and- y-yes, sir, I hear you loud and clear- c-could you please- um- let me go, please?" the shorter man stammered.

Jack let him go then, turning his back on him to pick up the messenger bag and zip it closed, flipping the cover over it. "I'll get you a new bag this week sometime. How much was this, like, a hundred bucks?"

"Twenty, a-actually," Vaughn replied, voice still a bit shaky.

"Twenty bucks? Jesus. I'm buying you a more expensive bag than that."

"You don't-"

Jack turned around quickly and glared fiercely at Vaughn. "It's payment for me ruining your bag and for keeping your mouth shut, got it, kid?"

Vaughn lowered his gaze, nodding fast. "Y-yes, sir."

When they arrived on the eightieth floor, Jack walked straight into the office and into a room off to the right. Vaughn hesitated outside the threshold, staring inside at the massive office. It was an office fit for a king... then again, it wouldn't have surprised Vaughn in the slightest if Mr. Billionaire had a king complex.

Rhys's head popped out of a door to the left. "Mr. Hyperion? Was that you?"

"Yeah, cupcake, I'm in the closet. Trying to find some fucking Post-It notes in this damn thing is a bitch," Jack called back, his voice slightly muffled by the door.

Rhys smiled a little before his eyes drifted to where Vaughn stood. He broke into an even wider grin then. "Oh, bro! Hey! C'mon in!"

Vaughn gulped and pulled his collar away from his throat as he did so. "A-Are you sure Mr. Hyperion won't blow a gasket?"

"Just go to his damn office, Vaughn, Jesus Christ," Jack yelled. "Am I gonna have to tell you to do everything?"

Vaughn moved quickly through the office, walking as fast as his legs would go without running, going behind Rhys to walk into his office.

"I am never ever ever sharing an elevator with that man again," Vaughn sighed, sinking down into one of the chairs in front of Rhys's desk. "I have never been more anxious in all twenty-four years of my life."

Rhys shut the door before coming over to sit at his desk. "Including the time we came here during college and Jack was directly in your face?"

'He got in my face this time too!' Vaughn thought. He swallowed hard and laughed some. "Yeah, including that. He couldn't fire me then."

"Good point." Rhys crossed his arms on his desk. "So, what do you need?"

"Do I need to need something to spend time with my bro?" Vaughn glanced around and started to relax a bit. "I filled my work quota for before lunch and I thought I could waste some time up here before we headed out to eat or something."

"Dude, it's only a little past ten. You're gonna be up here for, like, two-and-a-half hours."

"If you don't mind, I don't."

Rhys gave a little bit of a smirk. "Alright, I guess - just don't distract me. I don't need Jack jumping down my throat for not finishing today because you wanted to dick around."

\--

When the coast was clear and Vaughn and Rhys were no longer in full view of him, Jack made like a ninja to the bathroom to dispose the petals properly. After successfully doing so, he shoved the bag into a random empty drawer of the filing cabinet and went to his desk.

Jack's phone was ringing before he could even begin his work. He rolled his eyes and groaned as he picked the phone up to answer it. "What?"

"Jack! Finally." Timothy's voice came gentle and relieved through the phone. "You weren't answering any of my calls, on either phone, and I knew you were at work."

"You called me? I never even heard my phone ring," Jack said, pulling his phone from his pocket. He scrolled through his notifications - five missed calls from 'Tiny Tim-Tam.' Jack frowned. "Oh. Sorry."

Timothy gave a small laugh. "Shows where your mind is." He paused for a moment. "Seriously, though, why weren't you answering your phones?"

"Had to go see Nisha and Mox. Needed a nice punch in the ribs."

"Oh, right. It's the seventh. You got a new petal."

"Mhm. Speaking of my disease, you wanna come on over and meet the man who caused it? Put a face to the name you've heard so much?"

"Ah, not really, not yet," Tim admitted. "I'll meet him when the time is right."

"Um, the time is right, as in right now."

"No, Jack- I called to talk to you about something, goodness. I was doing some research today."

"Uh-huh."

"And I was looking up stuff on the Hanahaki Disease. I looked up the average lifespan of someone with the disease and they never said anything. And it scared me. A lot. You wanna know why?"

"Not really, but you're probably gonna tell me anyway."

"You're damn right I'm gonna tell you anyway. The average lifespan is six-to-eight years. Okay? Six. To. Eight. Do you understand why I'm concerned here?"

Jack sighed. "Tim-"

"Shh, no, shush, the question was rhetorical, I'm not done. You're at the six-year mark already. You have been for a full month now. It's by the skin of your friggin' teeth that you're not dead yet."

"You wanna know why I'm not dead? Because that is the average. And I-" - Jack pushed his hand back through his thick hair, despite Tim not being able to see him - "-am not average." After a moment, he leaned in to whisper to his little brother through the receiver. "This is where you clap for me being so handsome and definitely not average."

"I'll clap when I'm actually impressed." Tim sighed. "I gotta run, I've gotta go get groceries - call me later?"

"I'll try to, if I don't work late," Jack replied, leaning back in his chair. "I've gotta get started anyway. Rhys has probably been running around like a chicken with his head cut off all morning since I've been gone."

Tim laughed a bit at that. "I would be too, if I was suddenly manning the wheel of a billion-dollar company." Tim sighed again, this one sounding a bit more light-hearted. "Love you, dude."

"Love you too, man. Text me when you get home from the store."

"Of course."

They both hung up. Jack placed the phone back into its cradle and deeply sighed, already feeling drained. He's coughed up flowers twice today, and it wasn't even close to being noon. They were accumulating quicker. They had to have been.

It wouldn't be so scary-sounding if Jack had only coughed up a few petals in the elevator. That was normal, a few petals here and there wasn't a problem. But a full seventy-three-puke-up twice in only an hour? That was nuts. Maybe he was finally reaching the danger zone. Maybe this disease was finally starting to rear its ugly petal-covered head.

Jack scoffed. No, it wasn't. He was letting people get to him again. He was being paranoid.

Wasn't he?

\--

Timothy Lawrence, for all he was worth, hated his brother sometimes.

He stared at his lockscreen - him, Jack, and Angel at Disneyworld this past summer, smiling bright with their Mickey Mouse hats in front of the park - and just glared at Jack's smiling face. He didn't wear his mask in the picture, which Timothy was endlessly proud of him for, but he still just needed something to glare at, no matter how proud of him he was.

Why was Jack so... infuriating? So stubborn? So... Jack? Why did he have to be so- God, why did he have to be so much Jack?!

Timothy groaned and locked his phone, tossing it to the side. Jack was too much like his dad, sans the smoking problem. He was loud, arrogant, stubborn - but at the same time, he was compassionate and caring. (He was, when it really came down to it. He had a good heart. Not so much a good head, but a good heart is more important anyway.) Maybe that was why they were so different. Timothy's dad was quiet, soft-spoken and kind, yet stern and willing to stand up for himself. No arrogance, not a single bit stubborn, no hard opinions on things.

The only overlap they had was the hospitality they had from their mom. She always taught them to help whoever they could, whenever they could. Jack took it as a "help your friends and they'll help you," Tim took it to heart and volunteered at soup kitchens in high school. To each their own.

Anyway, back to Jack. Back to how fucked he is.

Six-to-eight years. It was the six part of it, that was the part that was making his heart skip in fear. Jack was already past that part and was going into the development of the seventh year. Seventh... Right in between the average. It was more than six, less than eight. It was... seven. Seven years. By next September (on the seventh, funnily enough), if Jack even makes it that long, it will be seven years.

Timothy sat back. He never, ever went this long without confessing his feelings, and he had been in love three times. It seemed so easy for him then. What was so different now?

Well, first it was Moxxi. She was the summer before and the first half of freshman year and boy, did it end with a bang. They decided to break up at the homecoming dance after being voted the King and Queen, and they left it there, no hard feelings.

Then it was Nisha. She was sophomore and junior year. They were pretty bad for each other, but only in that they didn't make sense. There was a method to their madness, and they lived within it comfortably, before they decided that the love wasn't for them anymore and broke it off.

Senior year was a doozie, for two reasons; first, Moxxi and Nisha fell for each other, which Jack found absolutely hilarious - "It's come full circle!", he had joked back then.

Second, Jack had fallen in love with the woman that would become his wife and the mother of his child.

Tim remembered her fondly. She was so sweet. She was absolutely amazing, perfect in every way. Long black hair and blue-flame eyes with a smile that killed, slender and average height. She made all A's in school and worked in shelters for animals and sometimes at the soup kitchens with Tim. Everybody liked her, from the jocks to the nerds to the theatre kids to the goths. People loved her, flocked around her. People were drawn to her.

And Jack was definitely one of those people.

He fell in love slowly. It wasn't instantaneous. At first it was a "she's in my Physics class" to "we're partners for a project" to "we're going to the movies on Friday" to "I think I really like her" to "holy shit, I think I love her."

And then, the petal came, and Jack went into a frenzy.

He told everyone immediately. Tim remembered that fiasco. He was calling all his friends, he told their mom and his stepdad; he even went to his own father's grave and just talked about her for hours. (Tim remembered that too. It was freezing outside but Jack wanted to tell his dad everything. As they were leaving, Tim asked him why he always came back here. Jack's answer was simply, "In hopes that he can hear me, wherever he is.")

The next day, at school, Jack went to her, nervously, quietly. He leaned into her ear and held her hand gently to his chest, whispering softly, "I'm in love with you, y'know."

At first, she thought he was just being sweet. She smiled and said she loved him too, and that was when he pulled away and turned her to face him, saying, "No, seriously. I'm in love with you."

First, she was shocked. Then she started to cry. Then she kissed him, telling him that she was in love with him and had been since the moment she saw him.

Tim heard the story a million times over the next six years. It was their favorite to tell. Jack told it to new friends. Jack told it to old friends. Jack told it to their parents. Jack told it on their wedding day. Jack told it to their daughter as a bedtime story.

The final time Jack told the story was at her funeral. It was devastating, had an entirely new meaning, a new, heavy, dark place in everyone's hearts. Angel cried the whole time, but Jack seemed to be numb to it all. He looked lost and scared, just holding his sobbing daughter and staring as they lowered his wife's casket into the earth.

Eight years later, he's never said a word to anybody about her, outside of the family. Eight years later, he still takes a few days off around her birthday and their anniversary just to be by himself. Eight years later, he's shoved himself into a hole that he can't get himself out of.

Tim thought about it all at least a million, maybe even a billion times. It was so easy for Jack then, what changed? When did it change? What made it change? Shouldn't it be clear by now? Wouldn't Jack have told him if something was different?

Tim sighed, furrowing his brow angrily. He hated not knowing what was going on in his brother's head. He used to be able to read him like a book, before his wife passed away - now he was a mystery, a cloud of mist. He was distant. He wasn't cold, he wasn't bitter or gritty. But he was definitely distant, to him, Moxxi, and Nisha, at least. He hoped that Angel was still close. He hoped and prayed.

The sound of the front door being opened drew Tim out of his thoughts. He glanced back over the couch, tensing, only to see Wilhelm, his boyfriend of the past ten years, walking in, tossing his keys up and catching them in his hand.

"Oh, it's only you," Tim breathed out of relief.

"Yep, only me," Wilhelm replied, putting his keys on the hook by the door, then hanging his coat on the coat rack. "I promise I'm not a robber coming to steal the television or something."

"How do I know you're not a robber in disguise?"

"Well-" - Wilhelm came over and sat on the couch, then pulled Tim into his lap - "- would a robber know to kiss you here to make you laugh?"

Wilhelm kissed the spot right behind Tim's ear, which made him laugh loud and brightly as he did it over and over. "Cut it out, you buttface!" Tim laughed out, trying to wiggle away.

"What was that?" Wilhelm said between kisses. "I can't understand you, can you speak up?"

Tim kept laughing and laughing until he was red in the face. "Wil! We have to go get groceries, stop it!"

"Okay, okay," Wilhelm relented, smiling wide. "But only because the need for groceries is extremely pressing and we need to figure out what we're gonna make for dinner tonight."

Tim stood up out of Wilhelm's lap and went to go slip on his sneakers. "I was thinking about just ordering a pizza, honestly."

"This is why we've been together so long. I need a man who gets me." Wilhelm came over and tipped Tim's chin in his direction, giving him a light kiss. "And you, babe, are a man who gets me."

After Tim put his shoes on, they left to the store. Wilhelm played the radio low and told Timothy about his day. Tim listened all the while, but stared out the window blankly, thinking about his brother.

"So, basically, this guy wants me to modify his motorcycle, which I'm willing to do, obviously," Wilhelm said, turning into the parking lot of the grocery store. "But what I'm not willing to do is let him try to bark at me like I'm some kind of machine to do his bidding. I mean, sure, I have cybernetics installed, but I'm not a friggin' robot."

"Mhm," Tim replied, eyes unfocused.

"Babe."

"Hm."

"Look at me."

"Yeah."

"Timothy Lawrence. Look. At. Me."

Tim snapped out of the trance he was in to look over at Wilhelm in a slight panic. "What? What were we talking about?" After a minute, he sighed. "I'm sorry, Wil, my mind's in another place..."

"Is everything okay?" Wilhelm parked the car close to the entrance. "Did something go on while I was at work?"

"Kinda," Tim replied. "I just... looked up some stuff on the Hanahaki Disease and got all panicked. I called Jack and it was unfruitful, as normal."

"What did you look up?"

"Life expectancy rates. How long someone can live with the disease." Tim folded his hands in his lap. "The average... the average is six-to-eight years. And I told Jack that."

"Oh," Wilhelm said quietly, shutting the car off. "What did he say?"

"Literally? 'That's the average and I'm not average.' That's basically what he said, word for word. I'm not even close to joking." Tim's voice shook, and he felt tears forming in his eyes. "He makes me so fucking mad- I just want to beat him with a frickin' shoe."

Wilhelm gave a small laugh. "You can't say 'fucking' and 'fricking' in the same sentence, Tim."

"Sorry- I just- can I scream?"

"Are the windows rolled up?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." Wilhelm covered his ears. "Go."

Timothy covered his own ears and screamed at the top of his lungs for a solid ten seconds before stopping. He fell back against the seat afterwards, sighing. "Okay. Okay, I think I'm good."

"You sure?"

"Yep."

"Good." Wilhelm leaned over and kissed Tim gently. Tim smiled against his mouth, leaning forward to return the favor. Wilhelm pulled away after a moment, and he moved to take Tim's hand in his own. "I know you worry about Jack. I worry about him too. But he'll be fine, okay? I'm sure he'll man up."

Tim scoffed with a smile. "Glad to know one of us has faith in my brother."

"Somebody has to." Wilhelm gave him another quick kiss. "C'mon. Let's get this grocery shopping over with already."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fanfiction is going on a small hiatus. my dog passed away earlier in the week and i haven't been writing as much. this was the last fully written chapter i had saved, so this will be where the hiatus begins.
> 
> i'm sorry, you guys. i'll work hard to get more content out as soon as possible. i love you all. <3 <3 <3


	8. Chapter 8

As the setting sun was shining through the wall-length windows, Rhys packed his laptop into his bag and was shutting off his main computer. He was getting ready to leave for the evening, and, from what he could hear through his closed office door, Jack was getting ready to leave as well.

Today had been nice, with Vaughn coming in and spending some time with him, then Yvette coming up, then the three of them going to lunch. On the way back, they had stopped by Starbucks to pick up some coffee and some sweets; Rhys even bought Jack his favorite drink to brighten his day a little. (It was the greatest thing, too - Jack had been on the phone when he came in, in the middle of what seemed to be a very heated argument, and Rhys just nonchalantly gave him the drink. Jack's eyes lit up and he mouthed his thanks with a smile, looking immensely grateful. Rhys wished he could've bottled that feeling up, the feeling of Jack being so thankful, and kept it on his desk like it was his most prized possession.)

He sighed a little and closed his laptop bag. He felt so silly, being so obsessed over how Jack looked at him. It was just a little thanks, just a small smile. It was rightfully earned, too, so there was nothing special about it.

Rhys wanted to smack himself in the face. Of course there was something special about it. It was Handsome goddamn Jack, smiling at him for doing something so small and trivial. It was Handsome Jack period!

"Hey, Rhys, can you come in here?"

Rhys almost didn't hear Jack through his daydreaming. He immediately went to the door and opened it, poking his head out. "Yes, sir?"

Jack stood in front of his desk, looking tired, but at the same time so beautiful. His hands were in his pockets, and his glasses were shoved back into his hair, so tousled... It took everything in Rhys not to melt into a puddle at the sight of him.

Jack grinned. "Hey. Um- I was just wondering if you wanted to come with me to grab a bite to eat. I don't have to be home immediately because my daughter's out with her friends, so..." Jack rocked a bit on his feet. "You wanna get dinner?"

'Okay, dude,' Rhys thought to himself. 'Let's think of every possible way to answer him before we actually answer.'

Answer one: be all cool-like. 'Jack Hyperion, are you asking me to dinner?' Ooh, yeah. That one's good. It's sexy, right? No... no, it's too strong.

Answer two: be funny. 'I dunno, sir - are you gonna be able to handle my expensive tastes?' Fuck, no, that one's worse. It's snobbish. Jack's a billionaire and even he doesn't sound like that.

Answer three: decline. 'No, I can't, I have a thing.' Make up something to sound cooler. Be hard to get. That's hot, right?

'No, crap,' Rhys thought. He snapped his eyes up to Jack's face. 'Oh, damn, how long has it been? Have I been standing here staring this entire time? Just say something!'

"Sure," Rhys answered. 'Nailed it.' "What did you have in mind?"

"Something small. I'm not into the big dinner scene right after work. How's the diner on the corner sound?"

"Sounds perfect. Let me grab my coat and finish shutting down all my stuff and I'll be ready to go."

\--

Rhys ducked back into his office. Jack took a minute to scream internally as he pulled out his phone to text his brother.

[sent, 5:46 PM] TIM I DID IT

[sent, 5:46 PM] I ASKED RHYS ON A DATE

A moment later, there was a ding from his phone: a message from 'Tiny Tim-Tam'.

[Tiny Tim-Tam, 5:47 PM] WHAT

[Tiny Tim-Tam, 5:47 PM] DID YOU REALLY

[sent, 5:47 PM] YES

[sent, 5:48 PM] WE'RE GONNA GET DINNER

[Tiny Tim-Tam, 5:48 PM] wait

[Tiny Tim-Tam, 5:49 PM] Does he know it's a date?

[sent, 5:49 PM] uh hahahahahaha

[sent, 5:49 PM] No?

[Tiny Tim-Tam, 5:50 PM] GOD DAMN IT JACK

[sent, 5:50 PM] I'm sorry!

[Tiny Tim-Tam, 5:51 PM] I'M GOING TO CUT YOU UP AND EAT YOU YOU SACK OF WALNUTS

[sent, 5:51 PM] I said I was sorry!

[Tiny Tim-Tam, 5:52 PM] YOU LIED TO ME

[Tiny Tim-Tam, 5:52 PM] THIS IS NOT A DATE!

[sent, 5:52 PM] I DIDN'T LIE WHAT THE FUCK

[Tiny Tim-Tam, 5:53 PM] YES YOU DID! And for that, I'm not speaking to you for the rest of the evening. Goodnight. I love you.

[sent, 5:54 PM] Are you for real? Telling me goodnight at only six in the evening?

[sent, 6:00 PM] Tim.

[sent, 6:08 PM] Tim!

[sent, 6:17 PM] Tiiim...

After getting no reply, Jack sighed and shoved his phone into his pocket. At almost the exact moment, Rhys walked back out of his office, wearing a dark gray peacoat and a scarf. "Alright, I think I'm ready to go, sir."

"Rhys, we're about to go out to dinner together. You can call me Jack," he said as they walked out of the office and down the hall.

Rhys gave a small chuckle as they boarded the elevator at the end of the hall. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Friends don't call each other sir, do they?"

At the sound of the word 'friends,' Jack could feel his image bruising. Ouch. Is this what the friend zone felt like?

Despite the pain his ego was suffering, Jack laughed as he pushed the button to go down to the car park. "That they do not. Well, most friends don't, anyway. I'm sure there are some friends who do."

"There were those kids from Peanuts who did. You remember those comics, right? It was those two kids that were, like, inseparable."

"Oh, shit, yeah, um- Green Shirt Kid and Glasses Kid." Jack frowned. "I can't remember their names."

Rhys laughed, and it made Jack's heart sing. "Don't worry, big guy. I can't either. But I do like the new names you gave them. Green Shirt Kid and Glasses Kid. They're perfect."

"Y'know, thinking about them make me think of you and... Vaughn? Right? That's your best friend's name?"

"Vaughn, yeah. And I guess I can see it. Am I Green Shirt or Glasses?"

"Green Shirt. Definitely Green Shirt. Vaughn is too much Glasses to be Green Shirt."

Rhys laughed again, a smile spreading more across his features. "I guess I can see that one, too. I'll tell him our new names when I see him again."

When they reached the car park, Jack immediately turned to the left to walk out of the car park and Rhys walked forward. He called out to him. "Dude, what are you doing?"

Rhys jumped a bit at the sound of Jack's voice, and he turned. "Oh- um- going to my car...?"

Jack smirked and shook his head. "I was planning on just walking. Save gas. Less pollution. Plus it's a nice day. Excercise, yeehaw." 'Did I just say yeehaw?' Jack thought to himself. 'Did I seriously just say yeehaw?'

Rhys laughed. "I guess I could never argue with a man who says 'yeehaw' in a casual context."

'Oh my God, okay. Wow. It didn't work against me,' Jack thought. 'Yee-frickin'-haw.'

Rhys and Jack walked leisurely, in-step with each other. Rhys glanced over. "So, just so we're clear - we're just coming back here after dinner?"

Jack grinned. "Let's see where the night takes us tonight, Rhysie. I'm feeling a little adventurous."

\--

'He just called me Rhysie,' Rhys thought to himself, his heart going a mile a minute. 'Oh my God, he- he just called me Rhysie!'

Rhys pretended not to freak out about that or the traffic scaring him - or anything else, for that matter - as he walked out into the sunshine. He already loved the feeling. The warmth of the sun, the cool breeze, Jack close to his side... it made his heart thump a little harder, a little faster in his chest. He swallowed hard and smiled gently. "So, sir, what's... what's going on with you? What goes on in the daily life of Jack Hyperion?"

Jack's mouth tugged up a bit on one side. "Not as much as you'd guess. My brother's been on my case about stuff, my daughter's been.. well, she's my daughter, so she's not on my case, per se, but she's about as bad as my brother, to be honest. And so are my friends."

"What have they been on you about?"

Jack shrugs. "Normal stuff. 'Do this,' 'do that,' 'stop putting it off.'" He chuckles. "I know they just want what's best for me. That's why I can't get mad."

Rhys nodded in understanding. "I'm normally that friend, so I'm in no place to criticize them."

Jack laughed. "What hurts is that I'm also that kind of friend, so I can't criticize them either." The CEO looked over for a moment, eyes lingering on Rhys's face. "What about you, kiddo? What goes on in the daily life of Rhys Bennett?"

Rhys gave a small smile. "Nothing interesting. I go to work and I go home.. Sometimes I go clubbing..."

Jack gasped with a smile. "Rhys Bennett goes clubbing?! The world would've never guessed!"

Rhys blushed with a small smile. "I can't tell if you're making fun of me or not, sir- er, Jack."

"I'm dead serious right now, cupcake. You're a little wild child beneath that sugary coating, aren't you?"

Rhys laughed a little, nodding. "I do have some pretty crazy stories..."

"I'll have to hear them. Maybe over dinner?"

"Maybe." Rhys shook his shoulders, smirking, feeling a little confident. "If you earn it."

His boss groaned a little, still smiling. "You're gonna make me work for it, huh?"

"Hey, these are some quality stories! I can't just give 'em out all willy-nilly!"

They arrived at the diner a few minutes later. Rhys picked a booth to sit at as Jack went to the bathroom. He texted Vaughn as he waited, pouring some of his nervous jitters into his words.

[sent, 6:28 PM] DBDHDJEJAMKABSJSJS

There was a ding just a minute later: a new text from 'THE MONEY MAN'.

[THE MONEY MAN, 6:28 PM] is that your new form of hello

[sent, 6:29 PM] ME AND JACK ARE OUT GETTING FOOD TOGETHER CAN YOU BELIEVE IT

[THE MONEY MAN, 6:30 PM] can i

[THE MONEY MAN, 6:30 PM] a rational man

[THE MONEY MAN, 6:30 PM] believe

[THE MONEY MAN, 6:31 PM] that two men, who work in basically the same office

[THE MONEY MAN, 6:31 PM] are getting dinner together

[sent, 6:32 PM] JUST BE EXCITED FOR ME OK ASSHAT

[THE MONEY MAN, 6:32 PM] siiigh fine

[THE MONEY MAN, 6:32 PM] ARE YOU REALLY

[sent, 6:33 PM] Y E S WE ARE AND I'M SO EXCITED !! HE WANTS TO SPEND PERSONAL TIME WITH ME VAUGHN

[THE MONEY MAN, 6:33 PM] maybe he wants to spend a l l his personal time with you ;))))

[sent, 6:33 PM] VAUGHN

[THE MONEY MAN, 6:34 PM] KIDDING

[THE MONEY MAN, 6:34 PM] but seriously i don't see what the big deal is, rhys. i mean, sure, yeah, he's our boss, but you're his exec sec, it was bound to happen some time

[sent, 6:35 PM] rude

[sent, 6:35 PM] i'm just excited to be out to eat with JACK FREAKING HYPERION VAUGHN

[THE MONEY MAN, 6:36 PM] if i didn't know better i'd say you were in love with him.

[THE MONEY MAN, 6:36 PM] ...you're not, right?

[sent, 6:36 PM] uh... what do you mean?

[THE MONEY MAN, 6:37 PM] you'd tell me if you were in love with someone, especially our boss, RIGHT?

[sent, 6:37 PM] of course, bro! why?

[THE MONEY MAN, 6:38 PM] okay, good. just- i don't know. been feeling kinda spooked, i guess. but i'm meeting up with fiona and sasha for some pokémon hunting in the park, so i'll catch you later okay?

[sent, 6:38 PM] ugh okay. tell the girls i said hey. maybe i'll be done before it gets too late and i can meet up with you guys and catch some for myself.

[THE MONEY MAN, 6:39 PM] i'll let them know that you may be joining us on our nerd excursion. have fun on your date, loser.

[sent, 6:39 PM] not a date, but thanks, geek. ttyl

Rhys set down his phone and stared out the window, watching the sun sink over the horizon. It cast a sultry orange glow over the city, twinkling on the windows of buildings and the hoods of cars.

Jack came to the table shortly after, giving a small yawn as he sat down. "I'm so tired and hungry. This is not a good combo. Did you already order?"

"Oh, no. I was waiting for you."

"Such a gentleman," Jack joked. "My friends normally order before I even get to the restaurant. They're major dicks."

"My friends only do that if I'm extremely late or something, and even then they're sorry about it." Rhys put his chin in his palm and furrowed his brow. "Well, not Fiona. She's never sorry."

Jack chuckled. "Fiona sounds like she and I would get along, then. I'm not sorry about it either."

The two of them inspected the menus. The waiter came a few minutes later, a cute young boy with bouncy blonde cirls and hazel eyes.

"Hi, guys, welcome," the waiter said with a smile. "I'm Matthias and I'll be your waiter. Can I start you off with drinks or are you ready to order now?"

"I'm ready," Jack and Rhys said together, and they laughed.

Matthias laughed as well. "Well, now, don't answer all at once, guys!" He turned a bit to face Rhys. "Let's start with you, man. What can I get you?"

"Uh, a burger, all the way but no tomatoes, with a medium side of fries," Rhys said, really focusing on his words to avoid sounding like a doofus. "And... do you guys have Pepsi?"

"Yep! What size?"

"Medium. Thank you."

"No problem," Matthias said, scribbling all of that down. He turned to Jack next. "Alright, buddy, your turn. What can I get you?"

"Same thing as him, just keep the tomatoes on my burger. And I want a Coke, not a Pepsi." Jack's eyes flicked to Rhys's with a playful glare. "Because I'm a real man, Rhys."

"Hey now, Pepsi and Coke are both delicious sodas!" Matthias defended with a laugh as he finished writing. "Alright, so - two burgers, one all the way, the other, no tomatoes; both medium fries; both medium drinks, one Pepsi, one Coke. Sound good?"

"Sounds perfect," Jack said, closing his menu and laying it off to the side. "Thanks, kiddo."

"No problem! Your order should be ready in about ten minutes, so sit tight!" The waiter gave one last smile before walking away.

Rhys put his menu on top of Jack's. "He was nice."

"Yeah, he was. He's gonna get a good tip." Jack turned to Rhys and smiled devilishly. "So, Rhys. About those stories of you being a little hellion..."

"Ah, I said over dinner," Rhys defended, grinning right back. "Dinner isn't here yet, as far as I can tell."

Jack sighed, still smiling. "Can't argue with that. But can I at least get a glimpse?"

"Hm... one time, at a party, someone came up to me with an antique bottle and asked me if it was perfume or liquor. I snapped the top off and chugged the whole thing." Rhys shook his head. "It was perfume. I'll always remember the taste for the rest of my life."

Jack was already bark-laughing, smacking his hand on the table. "Oh my God, I'm actually dying- you're so dumb!"

"Correction. I was so dumb. My days of drinking perfume are fortunately over."

Jack was still laughing by the time their food arrived. Rhys shook his head with a smile as he munched on a fry.

"I don't know if I'm ready to hear another one," Jack sighed, wiping his eyes, laughter finally dying down. "We can save them for another time, when I'm really feeling sad or something, okay?"

Rhys took a sip of his drink, still smiling. "Sounds good to me."

After a moment, Jack looked out the window at the sky, his smile slowly dissipating. "It so nice outside. It's a shame it's so fuckin' cold."

Rhys looked outside as well. "You're not a fan of cold weather?"

"God no. Too much bad shit happened to me in the winter. I just didn't like the cold before it, then hated it afterward. Then I just became physically intolerant to it, you know?"

Rhys looked at his boss then. "What... happened? If you don't mind me asking."

"Lost a lot. Members of my family. Lost pieces of myself, then, too." Jack's brows lifted at a slight, sad angle, and his eyes looked both focused and unfocused at the same time. The corner of his mouth ticked up in a small smirk. "Y'know, it's weird. It's almost as if the world wanted me to truly feel the cold, inside and out. And I did. It hurt. It cut deep. And sometimes, I still feel it. Like a knife to the heart." He stared for a moment longer before he seemed to become aware of himself, looking over at Rhys with wide, wild eyes. "I-I-I- um, I- I don't-"

"No, don't apologize." Rhys contemplated it for a split second before reaching over and putting a comforting hand on Jack's arm. "It's okay. You had a moment." He patted Jack's arm before pulling his hand away. "I'm happy that you trusted me enough to get so raw just then. Don't worry. You won't scare me away by simply being human and having emotions."

Jack smiled. "Uh.. Thanks, Rhys. It means a lot. I don't get like that often, I swear. It just bursts out sometimes."

Rhys shrugged, putting salt on his fries. "It happens to the best of us."

It was almost eight by the time they actually finished their food. They talked about deep, meaningful thoughts, trading life experiences and learning new things about each other. Rhys found it so comforting. It was so... easy, to talk to Jack. It was easier than he thought it would be, that was for sure. At least that was going for him. A big part of him hoped that they talked more, and for two reasons: so they would get closer, sure... but also because he hoped it would make it easier to just come out and admit that he was in love with him so he didn't, y'know, die.

Rhys started to walk back towards the company. Jack hung back for a minute before calling to Rhys. "Hey, uh.. you wanna get some hot chocolate?"

\--

"Uh..." Rhys turned around and shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure? If you want to."

"Yeah, I do. And go to the park and walk around. I wanna do something other than just stuff our faces, okay?"

"Yes, sir," Rhys said with a smile. "Lead the way."

On a pure instinct, Jack grabbed Rhys's hand. "I was planning on it."

Jack tugged Rhys along to Starbucks, which, thankfully, was right down the street from the diner and across the street from the park. He couldn't let this die so fast, not when the night was still young.

On another note, Jack was glad that he was facing away from Rhys, because his cheeks were radiating heat from the blush he was definitely rocking. Steam could have been pouring off him in waves and he wouldn't have been surprised in the fucking slightest. God, he had it bad. This kid had him wrapped around his goddamn pinkie finger. They were just holding hands and Jack was blushing like a fucking nun.

When they walked into Starbucks, Rhys told Jack he wanted mint in his hot chocolate and fled to the bathroom, untangling their hands. Jack felt slightly upset about the loss, but he shrugged it off and rattled off the order to a particularly bored-looking cashier. She rang it up, Jack forked over the cash, nothing special, nothing new.

"Can I get your names?" she droned. Her name was apparently Ty, as it said on her name tag, and she had blue hair and a nose ring.

"Jack and Rhys." Jack leaned forward, lowering his voice. "And, no joke, I will give you a hundred bucks right fucking now to spell his name right."

The cashier perked right up with a bright smile. "You had me at a hundred bucks. How d'ya spell it?"

"R-H-Y-S."

She nodded and scribbled it on a cup, then already doing Jack's cup as well. "Alright. There ya go. I've held my end."

Jack re-opened his wallet. "I am a man of my word." He pulled out two fifty-dollar bills and handed them over. "Go nuts."

"Thanks, dude." She stuffed the money into her back pocket. "And just because you're hot, I'll make the baristas do your orders first."

Jack laughed. "Thanks, dollface. I'll remember that."

Rhys came back after a minute and smiled at Jack as he came out. "Sorry that took me a minute, I was... okay, there's nothing manly I can say instead of this, so- I was fixing my hair. The wind messed it up."

Jack grinned. "You look great, cupcake. I promise." He gestured over to the baristas. "Our drinks should be done in a minute, by the way."

"Oh, wow. I didn't think I was in there that long."

"You weren't. They just made our orders priority because I'm hot and I have connections. And money. Don't forget the money."

"How could I?" Rhys joked. His smile was so pleasant and warm that Jack wished he could take a picture and frame it, to look at when he felt sad. Or whenever he wanted to look at it, really.

"Jack and Rhys," called one of the baristas, and he set the cups down gently on the counter and slid them over. Jack picked them up and handed Rhys's cup to him.

Rhys immediately took a sip and smiled. "Minty hot chocolate is the best. Don't fight me on that."

"Classic is the way to go, bud," Jack argued, shaking his head as they walked out. "Sorry for fighting you on that one."

As they walked over to the park, Jack stared up at the sky, squinting. "I hate being in the city at night."

Rhys looked up, squinting as well. "Why?"

"No stars. 'S why I live on the outskirts of the city, on the West End. I raised my daughter out there so she wouldn't miss out on them. Stars are one of my favorite things."

Rhys smiled a little. "That's kind of cute, Jack."

Jack laughed and lowered his head. "Call me cute again and I'll strangle you."

Rhys put his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. But to be fair, I was calling what you said cute. Not you."

"So you don't think I'm cute?"

"That's the most loaded question ever. If I say no, you'll strangle me. If I say yes, you'll strangle me. I don't win. So I'll only answer only if you promise not to strangle me."

"Okay, okay, I promise not to strangle you."

"Thanks." Rhys grinned. "I think you're very cute. But only in little instances. You're handsome all the rest of the time."

Jack rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Hardee-har-har. Very funny."

"There was no pun intended there!"

"Mhm. Sure."

"I mean it! I meant you're handsome because you are. Not because it's part of your name."

Jack gave a small chuckle. "Well, you're not so bad yourself. They should call you something too, since you're my assistant. Like.. I dunno. Handsome Rhys doesn't sound right in my brain. Or in my mouth."

"Ugh, no. There's no hard consonants so it doesn't evoke any feelings with it." Rhys pressed his lips together before adding, "I like the way Rhysie sounds."

Jack smirked. "Do you now."

"I do. I think it sounds good. Handsome Jack and Rhysie."

"That does sound good, I must admit." Jack shook his head. "That one's just for me, though. Rhysie's personal."

\--

Rhys was thankful for the cold; the breeze made his cheeks red so it covered his obvious blush. "You're giving me a you-specific nickname?"

"Yup. It's official. Rhysie. I like it. No, scratch that. I love it."

Rhys was almost melting. "It's only fair that I give you one, too, y'know. But I'll spend more time on it. Jackie doesn't sound right in my brain." Rhys laughed. "Or my mouth, for that matter."

"Huh. My dad called me Jackie." The older man smiled. "I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it, y'know? But I always was Jackie to him. He never called me my full name, unless I was in trouble. You know how parents are." Jack laughed. "Anyway, yeah. He called me Jackie, and after he died, I never wanted anyone to call me Jackie ever again. But then my mom remarried, and my little brother was born a little while after. And he tried to say my real name, he really did. He tried so hard. But it was too much for his little baby brain. Hard consonants and nowhere to put the force of the sound confused him. So he gave up... One day, though, out of the blue, he looked at me, giggled, and called me Jackie. And suddenly, I was okay with it again." Jack sighed with a tired smile. "He doesn't call me Jackie anymore. But sometimes I wish he did. Call me a sucker for the olden days, when I was still a kid and things still meant something to me."

Rhys's hand wanted to grab Jack's. It was right there, and he looked like he could use the small support. Rhys decided against it, though. It was too forward. He settled for crossing his arms and bumping Jack a little with his shoulder. "I'm sure there's still something out there that's meaningful."

"Well, sure. My daughter, my family, my friends. And the company, I guess." Jack reached up and ruffled Rhys's hair. "You mean something to me too, ya little shit. You and I have gotten pretty well-acquainted. You've even gotten to hear some snippets of my tragic backstory."

Rhys tried to fix his hair with a small laugh. "I guess we have. You mean something to me, too, Jack." Rhys looked down at the concrete and watched his steps. "You actually scared me to death when we first met."

"I could tell."

"Not then. I mean when we met when I was applying for the job."

Jack's eyebrows raised. "Really? You seemed nervous, but not scared."

"I was scared shitless. I kept thinking you would take one look at me and throw me out." Rhys smiled. "But you just smiled at me every time I looked at you, and it was so nice. I was scared still, but you just kept smiling.. I was beside myself about it. The big, scary, corporate CEO, smiling at me like I was somebody."

Jack stared at the sidewalk ahead of him. "I think about that day a lot, y'know. Lately, anyway."

"Oh yeah? Why?"

"Because... back then, I didn't know you would become... I don't know, whatever the hell you consider us. We're friends, right?"

"After tonight? Definitely."

"Right. Well, I had no fuckin' clue that you would become a friend to me, and a good one at that." He looked over. "Did you think we'd get here?"

"No way," Rhys laughed. "I thought I'd always be an underling to Vasquez. To you, I'd just be some employee who's paycheck you signed every Friday."

"Well, you're my assistant now. Hugo can kiss my ass."

After they finished their drinks and wrapped up the current conversation, Rhys and Jack walked slowly along the sidewalk in a comfortable silence, heading back to the Hyperion Corporation building.

As the building was coming back into view, Jack broke the silence. "Tonight was nice."

Rhys smiled to himself. "Yeah, it was. I had fun." He yawned. "Can't wait to get home and sleep, though."

"Yeah. My daughter and I will probably be getting home around the same time. She'll call me if she's home first."

Rhys looked over at his boss. "Y'know, I still haven't gotten to meet your daughter."

"She's fourteen years of pure me, Rhys. I'm not sure you could handle her."

"Oh?"

"No joke. From the moment she was born she had the sassy eyebrow. My sassy eyebrow, Rhys. She was giving it right back to me all the time. I was petrified." Jack smiled proudly. "She's the only one in the world who I would let give it right back to me, though. My little girl could literally gut me like a fish and hang me from a telephone line by my toes and I'd still forgive her. I'd forgive her for anything. She could rob a bank and I would blame the freakin' bank."

Rhys nodded in understanding. "You must... really love her. She's lucky to have such a good dad."

"Oh, please. I'm a terrible dad. I wasn't around much when she was growing up. I finally stuck around for more than just a day at a time when she was around six. I don't think she ever truly forgave me. Which she's right to do. I wouldn't forgive me either."

Rhys sighed, nodding again. "My dad wasn't around much either. He was a doctor, so he was always coming and going. Sometimes I thought he'd never come back, since he'd be gone for, sometimes, weeks. I even started thinking he had a family he loved more out there and that's why he was never home for me and my sisters."

"You have sisters?"

"Yup. Three of them. Rhiannon, Rachael, and Renee. All of 'em are older than me."

"That's really cute. Rhysie's the baby of the family!"

"Oh, screw you. It probably sucks being the oldest anyway, Grandpa."

"Just because I'm in my thirties doesn't mean you can make fun of me for it."

"You're in your thirties?"

"Jesus, Rhys, I'm thirty-two."

"Oh, wow. I wasn't expecting that."

"I know, I know. You can call me Grandpa forever."

"No! Um- wait, I- crap, I'm sorry. I didn't know that- um- if it makes you feel better, you're not old, you're- um- vintage!"

Jack laughed. "Vintage."

"Like the coolest records! And band t-shirts! I have a few vintage Beatles shirts and they are the best. They're soft and comfy and better than all my other shirts. You can be one of my soft and comfy shirts too."

"Okay." Jack was grinning so wide and Rhys wanted to kiss him then, just grab him by the face and plant his lips on Jack's. "I'll be one of your soft and comfy shirts, Rhys. But only because you said so."

Jack and Rhys walked into the parking garage together, splitting off to walk to their separate cars. Rhys pulled out his keys and unlocked his car door.

"Hey. Rhys."

Rhys turned back to face his boss, keys in hand. "Yeah?"

Jack leaned back against his car, looking around the empty car park. "Tonight was... fun. Really fun. More fun than I've had in a while and all we did was walk around and talk and eat."

Rhys smiled. "I had a lot of fun, too, Jack."

"So you'd wanna do it again? Maybe get a fancier dinner, catch a movie?"

Rhys bit his lip, thankful that Jack probably couldn't see him in the lowlight and across the parking lot. "Jack Hyperion, are you asking me on a date?"

Jack smirked and shrugged. "Will you say yes if I admit it?"

"Only if you admit it." Rhys crossed his arms, hugging himself and smiling even wider.

"Then yes, Rhys Bennett, I am asking you on a date."

Rhys gave a light laugh, feeling like he was walking on air. "Then yes, I'd love to."

Jack checked his phone. "How does this Friday at seven sound?"

Rhys nodded. "Sounds perfect." He climbed into his car after opening the door. "Goodnight, Jack. I'll see you tomorrow morning, okay?"

Jack waved, still smirking. "See you tommorow, Rhys. Goodnight. Be safe."

"Will do!" Rhys called as he pulled out of the lot and into the night.

After getting far enough away and reaching the first stoplight, Rhys rolled up his windows and screamed, smacking the wheel and stomping his feet a little.

The man he was in love with just asked him on a date. For Friday. At seven. They're gonna go to some fancy dinner and catch a movie. They were going out like a couple!

Rhys took a deep breath and started driving again when the light turned green, literally vibrating from the excitement. 'Oh, I can't wait to tell Vaughn, and Yvette, and Fiona and Sasha and-'

Wait.

He hadn't told any of them yet.

Rhys's smile slowly left his face and a new expression, a more serious and somber one, replaced it. Fuck. He forgot.

How do you forget something like that, though? They were his best friends and they didn't know yet.. Not even Vaughn, and that was his bro. There had to be some kind of bro code that he was breaking here. He even told Vaughn earlier that he would tell Vaughn if he had fallen in love, especially if it was Jack. And it was Jack! And he hadn't told him!

Rhys swallowed hard as he pulled up to his apartment complex. He had to tell Vaughn. If no one else, he had to tell Vaughn. Vaughn was the closest thing to a brother he had, and you don't hide things from your brother. Not from your bro.

Rhys checked the time. It was only a little after nine, and he knew Vaughn was probably still awake, but he was drained. He could just call him in the morning. It wasn't like Vaughn was going anywhere that Rhys couldn't call him from tomorrow.

Rhys undressed to his boxers as he walked to his room, leaving a trail of clothes behind him as he went. He threw on a shirt and some sweatpants, then he fell into bed, swimming out of consciousness as fast as his eyes closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAW
> 
> there was so much POV jumping my brain almost broke
> 
> hopefully this marks the end of my hiatus! chapter nine is ready and chapter ten is in the works - let’a hope I can keep it up, y’all omg
> 
> YELL AT ME IN THE COMMENTS OR ON MY SOCIAL MEDIAS !!
> 
> insta ;; local.emo  
> tumblr ;; mystic-choi


	9. Chapter 9

Jack woke up the next morning happy.

It was strange, being happy first thing in the morning. It hadn't happened for a while; Jack really couldn't remember the last time he woke up and felt generally content. Normally he woke up and felt sick, felt like shit until he even looked at coffee; yet here he was, cuddling his pillow and smiling at the sunshine filtering in through the burgundy drapes.

Maybe this was the impact Rhys was having on him. Maybe he was gonna be the one to finally fill the void.

And damn, did that feel fucking good.

Despite this, Jack sighed. He felt amazing with Rhys last night, and he loved every second of it - but they still had a long way to go, and that's pretty risky business on Jack's end. He doesn't have the time to go a long way, not anymore. His time was running out fast.

"Dad?" Angel came into the room with a tray of food, wearing her pajamas still. She smiled at him. "Oh, thank God you're awake. I wasn't sure when you'd get up."

"Hey, baby girl," Jack said as he sat up and stretched. "You scared the crap out of me."

She laughed a little. "Sorry, Dad. I made us breakfast. Sunny-side-up eggs, bacon, and biscuits. I made your coffee the way you like it, too."

Jack scooted over in bed and flipped down the covers so Angel could slide in, passing the tray over to him as she did so. She tugged the blanket up over her legs, then she took one of the plates off of the tray, along with some utensils.

"This looks amazing, baby," Jack said, kissing his daughter's head. "Thank you."

"No problem. It's rare that I wake up before you, so I wanted to make you breakfast before you went to work." Angel smiled. "And I like falling asleep in your bed after you leave."

"Angel, baby, it's Wednesday. It's a school day."

"I know. There's this thing going on that's an all day thing? And it's for the sophomores, and Uncle Tim is chaperoning, so he said he'd just call and come get me when it was time to go."

"Oh. Okay. Are you going home with Uncle Tim afterward?"

Angel, mouth full of food, nodded. She swallowed after a moment and grinned. "Nope." She popped the 'p'. "I'm going to Gaige's."

"Oh?"

"Yup." She popped the 'p' again.

"Alright. I wanna get lunch with you today, will that work with your schedule?"

"Sure, I'll ask Uncle Tim about it."

"Alright. I'm gonna be kinda pressed for time, so it'll have to be something quick. Not fast food, but nothing extremely drawn out, okay?"

She nodded again as she chugged her orange juice. "Sounds good, Pops."

Jack made a disgusted face. "Eugh. Don't call me that. Makes me sound old."

"You're closer to forty than you are to twenty, Dad. You're old."

"Gah! Stop it!" Jack covered his ears. "You're not allowed to hurt me like this. I thought you loved me!"

The two of them laughed and Jack finally started in on his breakfast, munching on bacon and sipping his coffee.

Angel grabbed the television remote and turned on the T.V., flipping it over to the news.

Jack furrowed his brow. "Why do you wanna watch the news?"

"Because it's interesting. And, I was reading a story about this guy with the Hanahaki Disease dying at the wheel of his car and I wanna see if they do a report on it."

Jack swallowed hard, fear zipping up and down his spine. "Oh, really? Was it here in town?"

"Yup. Down the street from Hyperion, even. It caused a major traffic build-up, too, so I would take the long way getting to work."

"Ah, thanks for the tip, pumpkin."

Jack suddenly felt sick, and his breakfast seemed unappealing. But he had to eat it, or Angel would get suspicious, and she would start asking questions that Jack knew he couldn't answer for her. He didn't want to lie to her more than he already had.

So, like a machine, he ate his breakfast, slowly but surely, even though worry and fear settled in his stomach like lead.

After he was finished, as was Angel, Jack went into the bathroom to take a shower. He left the water cold and stared at the wall, thoughts racing back and forth through his mind.

This was definitely becoming a problem, the disease was. It was killing him, literally, and it took him forever to realize that. It wasn't far off, either. It was coming, and it was ready to take him down.

A knock on the bathroom door scared Jack out of his thoughts. "Dad, your phone is ringing. It says it's Rhys. Can I answer it?"

"Uh, no," Jack called back, turning off the water. "Hand me the phone."

Angel opened the door and stuck her skinny arm in, handing Jack his phone. He took it and she withdrew, shutting the door behind her. Jack answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Good morning, sir!" Rhys's voice was bright and chipper. "I, uh- I'm at the office already. Just waiting on you."

"Oh, right. Fuck. I forgot." Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. "I... I really need to give you a key to the office."

"That would be ideal," Rhys laughed. "Do you want me to get anything while I wait?"

"Um, yeah. Coffee. Normal order. And schedule that meeting with Tassiter about the new Loader Bot shipments."

"Can do, sir. When should you be here?"

"Twenty minutes and I'll be on the way."

"Alright. See you then!"

And Rhys hung up. Jack pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at the screen. That was... odd. Rhys wasn't normally this formal, was he? Or was Jack already used to them being informal because of last night?

Jack huffed as he dried off, pulling on his bathrobe. Either way, he didn't like how Rhys was acting. They were close now, weren't they? They were going on a date on Friday! That stood for something, didn't it?

He shook his head. 'Maybe it's best to just try to forget about it.'

Jack went about the rest of his morning routine - brushed his teeth, shaved his face, fixed his hair - and he grinned at himself in the mirror, even though he felt stupid doing it.

'The face of a billionaire,' Jack thought, reaching up and touching the scar that marred his face. He frowned as he traced its shape - starting at the bottom right side of his face, up and over his nose and through his left eye, then down onto the bottom left side. 'The face of a man who's lost too much.'

He turned to leave the bathroom, but then he coughed a bit, and then it turned into a lot of coughing, and then it turned into a coughing fit, and then he was on his knees in front of the toilet, spewing flower petals into the porcelain bowl. As he did so, he slammed his fist into it over and over again out of anger. He thought he could escape the early morning cough he was careful, but oh no, it came for him anyway, like the awful disease it was.

When it was finally over, Jack flushed them down the toilet and slumped over against the shower stall door, breathing hard. He checked his fist - slight splits were made on his knuckles, and bruising had already started.

'Fucking great,' he inwardly groaned. He let his breathing steady itself before he stood up. He looked at himself in the mirror and fixed the little things - fixed his hair again, checked out his jawline for any stubble - and then he left the room, holding his injured hand gently.

"Oh my God!" Angel practically launched off the bed and gingerly took Jack's bigger hand in her two smaller ones. "What the hell did you do?!"

"Language, Angel," Jack warned.

"Not now, Dad. What did you do you your hand?"

"I... fell."

"On your fist?!"

"Um- yes?"

"Daddy..."

Jack sighed, pulling his hand away from his daughter. "I punched the sink. I was angry. I almost nicked my jaw when I was shaving, it stung, I punched the sink. Happy?"

"Well, no," Angel said quietly. "You're hurt. How many times did you punch it?"

"A few."

Angel sighed. "Lemme get the first aid kit..."

Angel disappeared out of the room. Jack stared out the door after her, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly. He hated lying to her. If he had just told her the truth in the first place, when he first fell for Rhys, when she first asked him, he could've just told her the truth and not felt so guilty. But nooo, nonono - Handsome Jack can't let people in. Not even his own precious daughter.

Angel came back with a little blue first-aid kit. She had gauze and antiseptic in her hand already, and she came over to him, setting the gauze and the kit on the bed. She opened the first-aid kit and pulled out a cotton ball, then doused the cotton ball in the antiseptic. She took his hand and looked up at him. "This is gonna sting. Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Jack replied, staring at his hand and not meeting eyes with Angel.

She nodded and gently dabbed the antiseptic onto the cuts. She comfortingly ran her thumb over the back of his hand as she held it. Jack barely winced at the sting, but he appreciated the gesture with all that he had.

Angel dressed the wound and kissed the bandage, then she gave a smile. "There. All better."

Jack smiled, inspecting his hand. "Thanks, baby girl. I don't know where I'd be without you."

"Dead, probably," she joked as she grinned, wrapping her arms around him tight.

"Yeah, probably," he agreed with a laugh. He hugged her back, laying his head on hers and swaying just a bit. "Hey."

"Hey?"

"I love you."

"I know. I love you too."

"I mean it."

"I know, Dad. And I mean it too."

"You're my baby girl."

"You're my... Dad? I can't think of anything else."

Jack laughed again. "That's fair." He kissed the top of her head. "Okay, Daddy's gotta get ready for work."

"Do I really have to leave? You can change in the bathroom! It's huge!"

"Angel, don't make me pull the Mean Dad card and make you come to work with me instead of getting to sleep more because you didn't want to listen."

Angel groans but she smiles. "Okay, fine. But I'm only going outside the door."

"There's no risk of seeing my hook-ups behind a closed door, sweet pea, so that sounds good to me."

"Ew." Angel walked out. "Don't take forever!"

Jack got dressed in his normal attire - worn, form-fitting jeans, Hyperion shirt, black blazer, and Converse. He put on his glasses and grabbed his keys and phone.

Even though he was basically ready to go out the door, though, Jack felt... off, as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. Unprepared. Slightly anxious. He looked fine, smelled great, his stomach was full - what could it have been?

"Done yet?" Angel asked, coming in with a hand over her eyes. Jack watched her in the mirror. "My virgin sight has been blocked, just in case someone's still naked."

"Not naked, baby," Jack replied, eyes searching his own frame.

Angel dropped her hand and came over, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Dad? You okay?"

"Uh... yeah," he concluded. He turned around to face her. "Do I look okay?"

She pulled him down to kiss his cheek. "Like a billion bucks."

"Ah, thanks, sweetie," Jack replied. He kissed her on the forehead before walking out the door, calling over his shoulder. "Daddy's going to work, Angel, call me if you need me!"

"Will do!" Angel called back. Her sentence was ended by the thud of the heavy bedroom door closing.

\--

Jack arrived at work around the time he said he would. Rhys wasn't there when he got there, but he went ahead and unlocked his office, walking in and getting to work.

There was a lot of shit he needed to do - that meeting with Tassiter, the meeting with the accountant board, there was a college class touring today before lunch... God, couldn't he just put it all on pause? It's not that he didn't want to do any of it, but.. okay, yeah, he didn't want to do any of it. Maybe he could just have a Skype conference with Tassiter, and then do the same with the accountant board, then just focus on the tour, then just try to take it easy for the rest of the day. That could work.

Oh, who was he kidding? He was the fucking CEO, he couldn't just hide in his office.

Well, he could... he was the fucking CEO.

Rhys came in all of a sudden. It scared Jack out of his thoughts, so much that he jumped.

"Sorry for taking so long," Rhys said. He sounded a bit rushed. "The line at Starbucks was huge. I got there before the morning rush, but there were so many girls ahead of me and they all wanted such complicated things, and then your order was complicated, because it always is and-" Rhys took a deep breath. "Y'know what? I'm here and that's what matters. Good morning, sir."

Jack took his drink and bit the straw, smirking a bit. "You know, you can still call me Jack. That isn't exclusive to when we're hanging out together."

Rhys visibly flushed. "O-oh- really? That's- um- okay. Good morning, Jack."

Jack chuckled. "Good morning, Rhys. Just remember to call me 'sir' and 'Mr. Hyperion' in front of other workers and visitors, and especially in front of the class touring the building today. Don't want anyone getting the wrong idea, get me?"

"Of course. I understand." Rhys walked towards his office and called over his shoulder. "Do you need anything before I go to my office?"

"Uh, no," Jack replied, trying not to stare at Rhys as he walked away. "I'll call if I need you. And I'll let you know when the class is here for the tour."

Rhys smiled. "Alright. I'll be in here if you need me."

Rhys disappeared into his office after unlocking and shutting the door. Jack slumped in his chair and put a hand over his chest, sighing. That was another thing he wished he could put on pause - the disease, his feelings for Rhys. All of it. Just slap a huge pause button on it and give him a second to be a person without it looming over his head. Was that too hard? Was that too much to ask?

Jack rolled his eyes before covering them with his hand. Apparently, it was.

\--

Angel had put herself to work as soon as her dad's car left the driveway.

She had to look perfect - this was gonna be the first time she and Gaige had ever gotten to go out in public without their parents involved. (Uncle Tim didn't count. He already knew and had been sworn to secrecy.)

She put on a loose black sweater and braided her hair while trying to decide on what bottoms to wear. She decided on a white pleated skirt and her black Doc Martens. She looked at herself in the mirror, doing a quick twirl, smiling at herself. She never liked wearing skirts, but Gaige loved how she looked in them, so she became more open to them; now she wore them more often, but really only to maximize the amount of attention Gaige was going to give her.

A car horn beeped outside. Angel opened her dad's balcony doors and walked out, looking at Uncle Tim parked there, waving through the window. She waved back and ran inside, going to her room and grabbing her school bag. She went back to her dad's room to grab her phone and house keys before running down and out of the house to get into her uncle's car.

"Morning, sweet pea," Tim said as he pulled back out of the driveway. He drove back out into the street and into the direction of the Angel's school.

"Morning," she replied with a happy sigh. "I'd never been so excited to see my dad than I was this morning."

"That's a lie. You would scream when you saw him every day when you came home from kindergarten. Every day. Without fail."

"That doesn't count. I was little then."

"I am willing to bet money that it counts in your dad's book."

"I don't make bets."

"Especially not with me, missy," her uncle laughed. "But why were you excited to see your dad?"

"I made him breakfast. He seemed pretty happy about it. Speaking of food, he wants to get lunch with us after the field trip thing."

"He gets pretty happy about anything you do, Angel. But that sounds fine. He'll probably call me when he's ready." He turned on the radio and played some music. "Whatcha wanna listen to?"

"Whatever comes on, I guess." Angel sat back and stared out the window. "Y'know, I never thought about what my dad wore to work until I looked at him  this morning. He looked kinda like a college kid."

"I think he always dresses like a college kid. I'm younger than him and I dress more appropriately for work. But then again, I'm not a CEO, so I guess I have no room to talk about it."

"I bet Dad would give you whatever position you wanted if you asked."

"I know. And that's why I haven't asked. The jerk already pays for everything else even though I tell him to let me do it. I don't want him signing my paycheck, too."

"Good point."

"I mean, I love him to death. But he doesn't know what 'no' means. I always hoped your mom could teach him, but she never could."

"I try to teach him, but I'm his daughter, so whatever I try to tell him just doesn't stick."

"Me either. I'm his little brother. The only one that had the real authority to tell him what was what was his Dad, I think. I don't know. I wasn't alive yet."

"Neither was I," Angel laughed, pulling her legs up into the seat and laying her head on her knees. She was quiet for a while before she said, "I think Dad just wants us all to live good lives so nothing happens to us."

Tim nodded slowly. "I think you're right. I don't think he could handle another big heartbreak like that, losing one of us. I thought we lost him when we lost your mom."

"Yeah... he always tells me that he wouldn't know what to do without me. Sometimes I'm scared as to how much he means it."

"Oh, Angel. If he had lost you and your mom... I don't know what would've happened to him either. The thought scares me to death."

"What would've happened to me if I lost Dad, too? Like, who would I go to?"

"Me, definitely," Tim said with a confirming head nod. "Your father has stated on multiple occasions that he doesn't want his daughter raised by, and I quote, 'the same woman who raised Ellie and Scooter and her gun-wielding cop girlfriend.'"

Angel furrowed her brow. "But isn't Aunt Nisha chief of police now?"

"Yup. That's how long he's been saying it. He was saying it when Nisha was still in the underbelly ranks."

"Oh, wow."

"Yeah." Tim turned into the school parking lot, pulling into a spot close to the front doors, near the busses. "Let's get ready to learn about some stuff."

"Woo! Learning!" Angel called sarcastically. She grinned as she hopped out of the car. "I'm always ready to learn about some stuff, Uncle Tim."

"You're also always ready to get too handsy with Gaige," Tim chastised, pinching Angel's cheeks. "Keep it to a minimum, at least while I can see you, okay?"

"You're not my dad." Angel batted his hands away from her face as she blushed. "Why does it bother you?"

"Just because you're not my baby doesn't make you any less of a baby, you baby."

"You're a baby." Angel huffed and crossed her arms. "Let's just go inside already."

Tim chuckled and put his hand on the small of her back and gently pushed her along with him as they walked. "Okay, ya big baby."

Angel hit him.

\--

About three hours later, Jack felt absolutely drained. He had kept a bright and positive attitude for longer than he ever had before, and even the idea stretching his face into a smile was making him nauseous.

They just had so many questions, so many jokes, so many things to fucking say and they dragged it out forever. He wished he could've strangled every last one of them, right then and there, then called the janitorial crew to clean up the mess. It would've been so easy. All it would've taken was just a little bit of pressure on the windpipe and then bam, they were gone, like a breath of air into the atmosphere. He would've done it in a heartbeat if he had locked the door. Maybe he should get a lock installed that locks automatically when the door shuts...

Rhys came out of his office and sat down in one of the chairs in front of Jack's desk. "You okay, Jack?"

Jack, with his head buried in his arms, groaned. "No. I hate people. I want them to go away and leave me alone."

Rhys snorted. "You and everyone else on this planet. Well, except maybe Gortys."

Jack picked his head up and groaned again. "I miss Gortys. She calls me Gentle Jim and makes me feel better."

Rhys shrugged. "I could call Fiona and have her bring Gortys over...?"

Jack shook his head. "No, don't. I'm too snappy right now and I'll hurt her feelings." He stood up and pulled out his phone. "Listen, I'm gonna go get some lunch for me, my daughter and my brother. You want anything?"

"Where're you going?"

"Probably just to get some Chinese."

Rhys seemed to think for a minute. "Just get me some fortune cookies, if you can. I'm really feeling more snackish than anything else."

"Alrighty," Jack called as he walked out. "Text me if you want anything else."

"Will do."

Jack went straight to the elevator and hit the button for the car park, leaning back against the wall. While he waited to go down, he called Tim.

"Hiya," Tim said laughingly into the phone.

Jack smiled at his little brother's laugh. "Hey, Tim. There's been a change in lunch plans. Can you and Angel just swing by the office and eat up here with me?"

"Uh, sure, yeah. You want me to just pick something up?"

"No, I was just gonna walk and pick us up some Chinese food. It's not too far from here."

"Sounds good, then. I'll alert your tiny girl child."

Jack laughed. "Hey, thanks. I'll see you guys when you get here. Love you, tell Angel I love her."

"Love you too, and I will. Bye, Jack."

Tim hung up. Jack waited patiently to get down into the car park, coughing lightly.

The light cough turned into a heavier cough, and Jack rolled his eyes as he tried to make it as quiet as possible. 'Dear God, not again.'

Coughing hard into his hands, Jack stumbled out of the elevator when it reached its destination. The cough wouldn't come out of his throat no matter how hard he tried, and it was getting harder to breathe. Jack's vision was spinning. Was it getting harder to see?

Jack coughed into his hands still and kept coughing as he walked out of the car park, getting dizzier and more panicked. He could feel the petals lodged in his throat, and no matter what, they wouldn't come out.

"Hey, dude, are you alright?" a young-looking guy came over with his hands out. "Do you need help?"

Jack looked at him, meekly nodded, then fell to his knees, still choking and coughing. The world was slipping away, out of sight - Jack wondered if he would ever see it again as he fell onto his side. He rolled onto his back and stared at the sky. Everything was darkening.

'Not like this,' Jack thought with a broken sob. 'Please, God, not like this.'

"Oh shit- dude!" The young guy dropped to his knees beside Jack's head. "Someone call nine-one-one!"

Jack thought of his family. Angel. Tim. Moxxi. Nisha. They don't know. Who could call them and tell them?

As curtains of black were finally setting over Jack's vision, he stared up at his office on the eighty-eighth floor. Rhys was up there. He wouldn't know either. He silently prayed someone would tell him. That Rhys would miss him.

Jack's eyes closed, and his body relaxed, and suddenly, everything was numb.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rip in pizza jackaroo
> 
> YELL AT ME IN THE COMMENTS OR ON MY SOCIAL MEDIAS !!
> 
> insta ;; local.emo  
> tumblr ;; mystic-choi


	10. Chapter 10

On the way to Jack's work after the field trip, Tim couldn't help but feel slightly off. There was something looming, something hanging above his head, but he couldn't tell what... Something was wrong. He knew that for a fact.

But what?

"Hey." Angel poked his leg to get his attention. "I can hear you thinking over there. You okay?"

Tim swallowed hard and let out a shaky sigh. "Y-yeah, Angel, I'm fine. Just kinda... weird."

"Well, I knew that."

"No, I- I feel weird. I can't help it. I can't shake it either. I feel like something's wrong and I'm afraid that it's something with your father."

Angel puffed out one cheek and furrowed her brow as she thought. "Um... maybe you should call him and make sure he's okay. Because now you've got me freaked."

As if on cue, Tim's phone began to ring, and he thanked whatever gods were listening as the name 'Jackie' read across the screen. He swiped his thumb across it to answer. "Jack, thank God. I was just-"

"Timothy Lawrence?"

A woman's voice caught Tim off-guard. He furrowed his brow. "Um, yes?"

"Mr. Lawrence, your number is listed as an ICE number for Jack Hyperion. He has been hospitalized. We've been asked to withhold the circumstances from all-"

Tim immediately hung up and threw his phone down into the floorboard. He swerved a hard right turn and sped in the opposite direction of Jack's office in favor of speeding to the hospital.

"Whoa!" Angel panicked, gripping Tim's arm with both hands. "What the heck, Uncle Tim?!"

"It's your father!" Tim yelled without meaning to. "I fucking knew something was wrong! I fucking knew it!"

"What happened?!"

"I don't know, they didn't fucking tell me- but I swear to God that if it's what I think it is-"

"What do you think it is?!"

Tim shook his head. "I-I can't tell you, Angel-"

"You can't do that to me," Angel yelled at him. "You can't keep me in the dark! You better tell me or I swear to God I'll never speak to you again!"

"Angel-"

"I mean it!"

Tim took a deep breath and tried to make his voice sound even through his panic. "Okay. I'll tell you. But you have to promise me you won't freak out on him." Tim offered a pinkie. "Pinkie swear you won't."

Angel locked their pinkies. "I swear. Now spill."

Tim let out a big sigh. "Okay. Your dad contracted the Hanahaki Disease six, almost seven, years ago. And I think he's in the hospital because of it."

"It's been that long?!" Angel screeched.

Tim looked over at her in confusion. "Wait, what?!"

"I've known, okay? I've known for, like, two years. I knew it was bad but I didn't think it was borderline-death bad!" Angel's eyes filled with tears and her voice broke. "Why don't you people tell me anything?! Why do all of you assume that I'm a baby so I shouldn't know?!" She sobbed. "And why is he letting himself die like that?!"

"Angel," Tim said comfortingly, reaching for her hand. "Sweetheart-"

"Don't fucking touch me," Angel said angrily, smacking his hands away. "Don't try to justify this. My dad was dying right in front of me and all of you were holding the wool over my eyes and not telling me shit. What if he dies? What if he actually dies in there and I hadn't known any of it? What would you have done? How would you have told me that you all were hiding this from me?"

"Angel-"

"Leave me alone, Timothy," she said, tears spilling over even more than they already had. "I don't wanna talk about it anymore."

Tim processed what she said and nodded, reaching over and patting her leg. "Okay, sweetie. We won't talk about it anymore." He focused his eyes on the road and sped even faster down the road. "We'll talk about it when you're ready to talk about it."

\--

Nisha sat at home, legs crossed at the ankles, feet resting on the coffee table. She had just come home for her lunch break, and she was waiting on last night's lasagna to finish heating up in the microwave.

There was a weird twang in her heart, some kind of strange twinge that concerned her. She had some kind of weird feeling in the pit of her stomach. Maybe it was Moxxi. She was always getting herself into trouble at the bar, so she wouldn't be surprised if something had actually happened to her and she was about to come in and talk about the dude she just nut-punched.

Her phone rang from her pocket. Without checking the caller ID, she answered the call with a sigh. "Nisha Kadam."

"Miss Kadam? You've been listed as an ICE number for Jack Hyperion. This is the right number, correct?"

Nisha shot to her feet. "What happened to Jack?"

"He's been hospitalized. It's been requested that we keep the circumstances from all contacts and visitors."

"Listen, sweetie - if I come down there and find out something is seriously wrong with that man, and you didn't tell me because of HIPA or some bullshit, I'll kill you where you stand."

"You can make threats all you want, Miss Kadam. But we've been asked to withhold the circumstances-"

"Yeah, I fucking heard you the first time," Nisha said angrily. She hung up and slid her phone in her pocket, ran upstairs to grab Moxxi a change of clothes, threw off her work shirt and grabbed a coat on the way out of the house to go get Moxxi.

When she got to the bar, she rushed past the security at the front door and rushed straight to where Moxxi stood at the bar.

"Hey, sugar," Moxxi called happily with a genuine smile. "What brings you here to my neck of the woods?"

"We have to go." Nisha leaned in and lowered her voice. "Jack's in the hospital. Probably because of you-know-what."

"What?!" Moxxi shouted in her actual accent. "Alright, everybody outta my bar! If ya ain't out by the time I'm ready to leave, the cops are gettin' called and they'll throw ya out for me!"

"Chief of police is already here, she has her gun in the car," Nisha yelled, "and she isn't afraid to use it!"

Moxxi gave Nisha a quick cheek kiss. "Lemme go get my things 'nd I'll be ready to go."

"Okay, baby," Nisha replied with a nod. "I'll be in the car."

Moxxi was ready and had the bar locked up by the time Nisha had gotten to the car and unlocked the doors. They climbed into Nisha's car at the same time and Nisha looked over at her girlfriend.

"Did you remember to shut down Bar Bot?"

"No, but he'll be fine. I left the lights on for him. We don't have the time to worry about his ass anyway."

Nisha nodded and burned rubber as she peeled out of the bar lot.

"So what happened to him?" Moxxi asked, crossing her legs at the knees. "'Nd can we stop at the house first so I can change?"

"I grabbed you some clothes before I left, they're in the backseat," Nisha told her, pressing on the gas and weaving in and out of traffic. "And I don't know, they didn't tell me. They said they can't tell anyone."

"You think it's the Hanahaki Disease?"

"It's gotta be." Nisha sighed and shook her head. "I wonder who's gonna tell his little assistant."

Moxxi raised an eyebrow. "Ya think he deserves to know?"

"On some level. Not before the family, but yeah."

"I'm sure someone will call him, then. Jack would have us killed if no one calls him. I mean, Rhys is the person he's in love with..."

"Right. But let's just worry about us right now and get to the hospital."

Moxxi nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

\--

Rhys sat in his office, typing away at his computer. What was taking Jack so long? The Chinese place was a five-minute walk away from the building, and it had at least been half an hour. Maybe he went to a different Chinese place. There were hundreds of them, after all. Maybe Jack had a preference and went there.

Still... Jack would've called to say, "Hey, sorry this is taking so long," or, "I went to this place instead of that place, just letting you know," or something to that effect. He would have, wouldn't he?

He shook his head and stood up, walking out of his office. Of course Jack would've called him. Jack knew he would worry, and he would call to reassure him.

He almost smacked himself. Jack wouldn't know Rhys would worry. He wouldn't assume. They weren't together or anything, so what would it matter to either of them?

With a huff, Rhys slapped a stack of finished paperwork on Jack's desk and briskly turned away on his heel, stomping back into his office. (For what reason, he didn't know, but it made him feel better, so he did it anyway.)

The place was so silent that when Rhys's phone rang, he almost jumped out of his skin. It was loud and raucous in the quiet office, so he answered it quickly without checking the caller ID. "Yes, hi, hello? Um-" - he cleared his throat - "-this is Rhys Bennett."

"Mr. Bennett? You're listed as an ICE number for Jack Hyperion. Is this the correct number?" came a woman's voice. Her voice was soft, but her tone was edged.

Rhys's insides turned to ice and his knees weakened. "U-um- y-yes?"

"Mr. Hyperion has been hospitalized due to circumstances that have been asked to be withheld from all contacts and visitors."

"O-oh, uh- i-is he okay?"

"He's in a critical state right now, Mr. Bennett - is there any way you can make it to the hospital?"

"I can be there," he said too quickly. "Thank you. I'll be there soon."

He hung up without waiting for a reply, shoving his phone in his back pocket and grabbing both his and Jack's keys on the way out, locking the doors to Jack's office behind him. Running to the end of the hall and into the elevator, he slammed his hand on the button down to the car park and tapped his foot impatiently.

"C'mon, you stupid thing," Rhys muttered, pressing the button over and over again. When the doors finally closed and he was sent down to the very last available floor, he ran out of the doors as soon as they opened and straight to his car. He had no time to waste. What if something had gone terribly wrong and the next few hours were the last few hours Jack had? What if he never got to admit his feelings?

Rhys clambered into his car and started driving like a maniac, speeding out of the car park and taking the fastest route to the hospital.

His phone rang again and he answered it without taking his eyes off the road. "Hello?"

"Hey, man." It was Vaughn. "You busy for lunch?"

"Busy for the next few hours, actually."

"Oh, jeez. Is Jack piling it on thick today?"

"It'd be kinda hard to do that from a hospital bed, Vaughn."

"Wait, what?"

"Jack's in the hospital. I'm heading there now."

"Oh, crap, dude, why did you answer me then?"

"I was kinda hoping it was the same nurse who called me from Jack's phone to tell me he was okay."

"Oh. Sorry."

"You didn't know."

"You okay?"

"Tense."

"I can tell." Vaughn sighed. "Update me later?"

"Sure. Talk to you then." Rhys hung up and pressed a little harder on the gas. He hated that he worried so much, but he did, and he couldn't even begin to try to get over it, so his only choice was to drive to the hospital and hopefully get some answers.

When he arrived at the hospital, he quickly picked a parking spot - which was thankfully close to the door - and he hurried inside. He got to the help desk and nearly collapsed with how nervous and tense he was.

"I-I'm here to see Jack Hyperion," he said quietly, glancing around then finally settling his gaze on the nurse there. She was petite, brunette with blue eyes and rosy cheeks and lips.

The nurse smiled warmly. "What's your name, sir?"

"Rhys Bennett."

She nodded and looked to her computer. "Alright, just go to the elevator bay to the right of this nurses' station, then go up to floor eight. The nurses up there can guide you to his room. I'll call them and let them know you're on your way, okay?"

"Thank you," he replied as he went towards the elevator bay. He walked straight into the closest open elevator, then selected the eighth floor button and stared ahead at the doors that closed before him.

The ride up to the eighth floor was quick. Rhys walked out and walked to the nurses' station there. They pointed him down the hall, to the "overnight room" waiting room, which was already filled with four people - two women, a man, and a teenage girl. Rhys met eyes with none of them and sat in the corner, staring at the ground.

"Excuse me, sugar," said one of the women in Rhys's direction. Rhys looked up at her. She smiled warmly. "You wouldn't happen to be Rhys, would you?"

"Uh, y-yeah," Rhys replied, raising an eyebrow. "How did you know...?"

She shrugged, still smiling, leaning back against the woman beside her. "Had a feeling. Jack talks about you a lot."

The man on the other side of the room looked over at Rhys as well. He looked like a younger, slightly tanner Jack, sans the streak in the hair. "So. You're his assistant. I'm his brother, Timothy. You probably haven't heard of me."

"Or any of us, really," says the other woman, pushing her hand through her dark hair. "I wouldn't blame Jack for keeping his personal life out of his business life."

"I've heard about you all," Rhys said, averting his eyes and staring at the floor again. "He just never said names. Except for maybe his daughter. I can't remember at the moment.."

"You know about me?" The teenage girl smiled some. "He normally doesn't tell anyone that he has a daughter."

"He told me right off the bat." Rhys smiled. "He said that I might even get to meet you... though I don't think he meant under these circumstances."

She gave a short, harsh laugh. "Yeah. I don't either." She stood up, walked over and stuck out her hand. "My name's Angel."

Rhys stood up and shook her hand. "Rhys. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Moxxi," said one of the women, the one with a full face of make-up but was wearing a hoodie, sweatpants and slide-on sandals. She crossed her legs and smiled warmly.

"Name's Nisha," said the other woman. She seemed somewhat disinterested, staring at Rhys like he was just boring her to death. "You may have seen me before. I'm the chief of police."

"Er, probably," Rhys said. "Maybe on the news. I've never really had run-ins with the law. Well, not since college."

"You look fresh out," Nisha said with a laugh. "That can't have been more than a few years ago. Five, max."

Rhys admitted with a sigh, "It was last year when I graduated..."

"Holy shit," Timothy interjected, raising his eyebrows. "You're younger than me?"

"Uh, I guess?" Rhys turned to him. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-six."

"I'm twenty-four."

Moxxi shook her head. "My God. He hired an infant."

"Hey!" Rhys crossed his arms. "I'm not a baby. I'm a grown man."

"We're messing with you," Nisha laughed. "Don't worry. We wouldn't mess with you if we didn't like you."

Rhys perked up at the sound of that. "O-Oh. Right. Okay." He smiled awkwardly. "Uh- I like you guys, too...?"

"Thanks," they all said laughingly in unison.

"Timothy Lawrence?" came a nurse's voice. A tall, gentle-faced man came in and smiled at Tim as he stood up. "Hi, Mr. Lawrence, I'm Joel, your brother's nurse. Mr. Hyperion has just been moved to an actual room and is resting. He was given a sedative to make the job easier - and I can assure you that he's expected to make a full, fast, and dare I say easy because he's pretty feisty, recovery."

Rhys let out his own little breath of relief. Jack was okay. Jack was going to be okay. Would he be okay before their date on Friday night?

Oh, who was Rhys kidding? He would bring the date to Jack if he frickin' had to. Definitely. He loved the man, for crying out loud; surely he could pick up some food and bring his laptop to the hospital so they could watch a movie together.

'That'd be kind of cute, actually,' Rhys thought before focusing all his attention on Joel and Timothy.

"Thank God," Timothy sighed. He shook Joel's hand. "Thank you so much. When can we see him?"

"After a couple hours, when he's fully conscious. We'll alert you."

Joel started to walk away, and Tim looked panicked for a second before calling out. "Um, Joel?"

The nurse turned around. "Is there something else you need?"

"Well, it's just that- it's just that I- I don't want to talk to him, I-" Timothy choked a little, wringing his hands. He took a few deep breaths before continuing, and when he did, his voice sounded a little strained. "I just wanna see my brother, to see if he's okay with my own two eyes. He doesn't have to be awake for me to do that, does he?"

Joel pursed his lips. "Hm... well, I'm probably gonna be breaking a couple rules here, but it's for a good reason." Joel looked around. "But we gotta make it quick. Two minutes, tops, okay, everyone?"

Moxxi and Nisha stood up and everyone agreed. Joel made a 'follow me' gesture with his hand and led their group through the overnight ward, glancing around and walking fast. Rhys kept up easily, long strides matching the nurse's, but the rest of the group was really working to stay close.

Joel led them to a heavy, white-painted metal door. The silver plate on the door read the numbers 3692, and the clipboard by the door had papers that had Jack's name on them. Rhys skimmed over them quickly for all the information he could, but Joel grabbed it before he could get anything. (And in this moment, Rhys secretly wished his ECHO eye worked on paper. Or had X-ray vision. Something along those lines.)

"Okay, kiddos," Joel said, scanning over the clipboard himself. "Go on in. Be extremely mindful of the fact that he is still asleep, stay quiet, and I'll pull you out in a couple minutes."

The group filed in slowly and quietly, Tim and Angel first, then Moxxi and Nisha, and then, finally, Rhys. Rhys held his breath for some reason, afraid that even the slightest sound would wake Jack up.

Jack laid there, looking strangely peaceful, his head propped up in a comfortable angle. He still looked like his normal tousled self, but there was something... gone. Where- where was the mask?

Rhys stared at his face. He took in everything about it. A parabolic scar marred his face, starting on the bottom right side, going up diagonally, then curving down over the bridge of his nose and going through his left eye, then stopping at the bottom left side. It took Rhys by surprise. 'Is that why he wears the mask?'

"Oh my God," Angel murmured, putting her hands over her mouth. Rhys brought his attention to her. "He doesn't even look alive to me..."

"He's alive," Nisha said, a bit less than comfortingly. "He wouldn't die on us like this."

"You don't know that." Angel hugged Timothy tight, keeping her head turned to keep looking at her father. Her eyes were squinted, scrutinizing his form. "It might not be his choice as to whether he dies or not."

Moxxi took Nisha's hand and held it tight in both of her own, kissing Nisha's fingers. "Angel's right. It might just... sneak up on him. Come outta nowhere."

Nisha's jaw set. Rhys could only assume she was gritting her teeth. His eyes lingered on her for a single second before going back to stare at Jack - or rather, at his scar.

Why did Jack hide it? It wasn't too bad of a scar... Noticeable, yes, but it didn't make him any less handsome. Rhys even thought it somehow made him more attractive, more human-looking. The pliable plastic of the mask was too... humanoid. Not realistic whatsoever, once you'd seen Jack's real face, the one that Rhys was seeing right now. Rhys decided that he definitely loved this face more, and hoped and prayed that this was the face that he, maybe one day, got to kiss.

Joel poked his head back inside. "Okay, everybody, two minutes are up. Ready to go?"

"No," Angel said, letting go of Timothy and going over to her dad. She held his hand and looked back at Joel. "Can't I just stay with him? He hates waking up alone. Someone needs to be with him."

"A nurse will be present when he wakes up. I hate to be like this, but you need to leave now or you won't be allowed back in."

Rhys felt sorry for Angel. His heart broke at the face she made - he could see the actual pain in her eyes, could see in the set of her mouth that she was about to cry.

"O-okay," she replied, nodding. She turned back and kissed her father's forehead, cupping his face in her free hand. She murmured an 'I love you' and slowly pulled herself away from Jack, finally letting go of his fingers and going straight back to Tim, sobbing into his chest.

Rhys hugged himself and sighed as they walked out of the room. It was hard, seeing Jack, someone so tough and strong, looking so... vulnerable. It bothered him in every way he could think of it bothering him.

Despite this, he had this undeniable urge to keep a straight face. He couldn't show how he really felt in front of these people he had never met before - what if they assumed the obvious and found out about Rhys and then told Jack? What would he do then?

Clenching his jaw and sitting down once they were back in the waiting room, Rhys crossed his arms and stared at the ground. He just had to wait until Jack woke up. Then he could get some answers and hopefully have a clear enough mind to get back to work before the day was over.

He took a deep breath and lay back against the seat. Whatever this was, the doctors seemed confident that it wasn't life-threatening, so he could stop freaking about that. He could stop freaking in general, really - he saw with his own two eyes that Jack was all in one piece. He was fine and would be fine tonight, would be fine tomorrow, would be fine for the next little while, and especially if Rhys had anything to say about it.

Rhys slid down in his chair a little bit, staring at the ceiling and allowing himself a little room to relax. He sighed again. Jack would be fine. And Rhys swore to himself and to everyone else in this room, albeit silently, that, after this was all over, he would keep it that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RHYS IS GON PROTECT HIS BABY, Y'ALL
> 
> i mean he's not his baby but that's his BABY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> i hope you all had a good thanksgiving, i know i did!! <3 <3 <3
> 
> tumblr ;; mystic-choi  
> insta ;; local.emo


	11. Chapter 11

Jack's eyes opened slowly, and he squinted as he blinked away the unnatural, fluorescent light that flooded the room. The only window he could immediately see showed the dark sky, with bits of the city lighting up against the horizon. He moved his tongue around his dry mouth, dying for water. He reached up and felt his maskless face as he glanced around the room.

"Mr. Hyperion, you're awake," said a nurse as she fiddled with the machines by his bed. She replaced the IV bag that was attached to his arm and looked down at him. "You've had a whole crowd of people come in all worried about you. And rightfully so. You gave us all a little scare, y'know."

"Do any of them know what happened to me?" Jack asked, still trying to wrestle the sleep off his body. His voice was hoarse in an exhausted kind of way.

"As per your request, no one has been told of the circumstances." She glanced at the door. "But the doctor will be in here momentarily to brief you before we allow your visitors to come in."

"Brief me about what?" Jack coughed into his elbow, a light little thing. It had no next part to it, which Jack was immensely grateful for. He was happy to just give a little cough and let that be the end of it.

"Your disease, sir."

"Yeah, no shit, I mean what about it?"

At that moment, as if on cue, the doctor entered. Her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail and glasses perched on the top of her head. She had olive skin and a chubby body, not fat but not skinny, and her hands were a little bit bigger than average.

Her eyes were cast down onto the clipboard in her hands. She looked up at Jack and didn't smile as she said, "Good evening, sir. How're you feeling?"

"Like shit, thanks." Jack sat up as much as possible. Trying to get into a little bit more of a dignified position was hard when you felt like boulders had sat themselves onto your chest and refused to get off of you.

She gave a sharp, humorless laugh, still with no smile. "I figured as much. You did almost choke to death."

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Doc. You go to med school to tell people shit they already knew?"

She frowned even further. "We can do without the disrespect, Mr. Hyperion."

"Respect goes both ways, Miss Whatever-Your-Name-Is. Give what you get, don'tcha know?"

She seemed to let it go as she started reading from her clipboard. "Let's just go over what it says on your chart. So. You contracted the Hanahaki Disease over six years ago. You've done nothing about it and therefore have been letting the disease develop into dangerous, life-threatening territory. Anything sound wrong so far?"

"Nope." Jack popped the 'p' and rolled his eyes. "Sounds right to me."

"Then let's continue. You've choked on your petals. That's essentially all that really happened. But the blockage was so great that it called for medical attention immediately." She flipped to the next page and clicked her tongue. "You do realize what I'm gonna say next, right?"

"Probably, but why don't you take the chance to bust my balls yourself?"

The doctor squinted at him, but moved her eyes back to the clipboard. "I would advise telling the person that you're in love with that you're in love with them. Then again, I would also advise the surgery. I'm sure you know what that entails..."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "What surgery?"

"The surgery removes the stem from your lungs and ceases all flower blooms, but since it removes the disease and everything it brought along, the feelings that you hold for the other person leave with it."

Jack laughed this time, shaking his head. "No way. I'm not doing that to myself."

"Then help yourself and get to confessing or you'll end up in the morgue rather than the hospital next time, Mr. Hyperion." She set an icy gaze on him, locking their eyes. "The Hanahaki Disease is a very serious thing, and you're playing it too carelessly. Consider this the only warning that the world is allowing me to give you." She turned and walked towards the door briskly. "I'll allow your visitors in now, starting with immediate family and moving outward."

Jack sighed and slumped back against his pillows, closing his eyes. He wasn't entirely sure if he was ready to face his family and friends, but he kind of had to be at this point. There was no where else to run. He was bound by white sterile sheets and plastic tubes.

Less than a minute later, Timothy and Angel were lead into the room by a male nurse. Angel threw herself past the nurse to get to Jack faster. She climbed into the bed and hugged him tight, sobbing some.

"I hate you so much," she yelled into his chest, although it was muffled. "You're the biggest, most inconsiderate jerk that I've ever met in my life!"

"I'm sorry, baby," Jack laughed, hugging her and rubbing her back. "I know you're mad at me."

"I'm not just mad at you. I'm enraged. When you get home, I'm gonna ignore you so hard that you're gonna forget you even have a daughter."

"I could never."

"You say that now. Just wait until I ninja my way around our house just to avoid you." She hugs him even tighter somehow. "But right now I'm glad I can talk to you. So cherish me not wanting to beat you up."

Jack laughed again. "Okay. I'm cherishing it."

Tim cleared his throat and walked over. "Jack. Me and Angel talked about some things and we need to talk about them with you."

Jack rubbed Angel's back as he looked over at his brother. "What do you mean?"

Angel froze, then sat up and wiped her face. "Oh yeah. I almost forgot about that."

Tim crossed his arms and sat down in a chair by the bed. "When I got the call about you being in the hospital, I had Angel in the car with me. I got pissed, of course, and I was yelling about what I thought it was, and then Angel asked me what I thought it was. I told her, and then she said she already knew." Tim crossed his legs at the knees. "I bet you already know what I'm talking about. You're not dumb."

Jack wanted to run. He could feel the ache to run away in his legs, starting from his feet and going up into his hips. His heart hammered in his chest and he wanted to scream.

He swallowed his panic down and looked over. "So she knows."

"Yes, I do," Angel said, looking down at him. She looked worried and sad and scared all at the same time. "And I can't believe you hid it from me."

Jack turned his head to lock eyes with his daughter. "Angel-"

"No, okay?" She stood up and turned to face her body towards him. "Don't. I'm not just mad at you about it either. I'm mad at all of you. But you the most. You hid it from me and let everyone else do it too, even though you swore to never hide anything from me, ever. Do you know how that makes me feel?"

Jack didn't answer. He cast his eyes down, away from the pain he saw in her eyes.

"You don't, do you. Well, let me clue you in, then." She turned away from him and began to pace. "It makes me feel like you more than just lied to me. It makes me feel like you don't trust me or something. You and I are supposed to tell each other everything, because you're the only parent I have, and I'm your only kid, yet here you are hiding one of the biggest things in life. You fell in love, and you didn't tell me, and it feels like you did that without any reason at all."

"Angel, you hid something from him, too," Tim commented from where he sat. "If he came clean, you have to, too."

Jack immediately snapped his eyes to Angel. "Come clean about what?"

"I don't have to come clean about anything," Angel argued, "because he didn't come clean. You told me, Uncle Tim."

"But it's still fair," Tim countered. "Tell him or I will."

"Fine." Angel huffed. "Dad, I fell in love with someone a while ago, and I told them after a couple months. I've been in a relationship with them since."

Jack felt like he'd been hit by a bus. "You what?!"

"Now you know how I feel! How I felt when I found out you had contracted the disease and didn't fricking tell me!"

"This is different, Angel. I am the parent, you are the child. I don't have to tell you anything."

"It's not different, Dad. You just wish it was so you can be right. Which you aren't. I didn't want to keep it from you because I love you and trust you more than I trust anyone else. But you kept yours from me." Angel sniffed. "And no, I guess you don't have to tell me a god damn thing. But you do have to keep your word. Which you didn't."

Angel stormed out of the room. Jack could basically hear her teeth grinding. She was sizzling at her edges.

Jack felt everything she said to him in his chest. In his throat. It hurt everywhere, made his body feel even heavier and made him even angrier than he already was.

"You didn't have to tell her, y'know," Jack said to Tim without looking at him. He stared at the door. He half-wished that Angel would come back, but he also didn't. He knew she just needed some time. But he still wanted to apologize.

Tim was quiet for a minute before responding. "You say that like you planned to. Were you planning to?"

"Eventually, yes."

Tim shook his head and stood up, crossing his arms and walking slowly around the room. "What if you had died today, Jack?"

"I didn't."

"That's not what I asked."

"Why are you even asking?"

"I'm asking because if you had died, you would've died without telling your daughter that you loved someone new. You would've died without telling Rhys that you loved him."

"But I didn't."

"But the point is that you might've, Jack. You can't actually be trying to argue with me about this."

"I'm not trying to argue, I am arguing. I'm alive, Timothy, what more do you want?"

"I want you to man up and actually take control of your life instead of letting this damn disease do it!" Timothy screamed as he whipped around.

The room was tense. The silence made it worse.

Jack clenched his jaw. "Well. Tell me how you really feel, Tim," he said sarcastically, sitting up more.

"Oh, I'm gonna. Because now you can't run off and play Mr. Billionaire instead of listening to me." Tim ticked off things on his fingers. "You lied to your daughter for years and made me, Moxxi and Nisha do it too, which is one of the shittiest things you've ever done in all thirty-two years of your life; you've basically hid yourself from Rhys since the moment you laid eyes on him, which has slowly been killing you and is the whole reason that you're in this mess right now, which is another one of the shittiest things you've ever done in all thirty-two years of your life; you don't realize that what you're doing affects all of us, not just you, because you're an inconsiderate asshole who only cares about his image a good seventy percent of the time - and lastly, to finish off my little lecture here, you're in a fucking hospital bed, Jack, and you still don't understand that this disease will be the fucking death of you!"

Tim panted and gasped after screaming the final words, pushing his shaking his hands through his hair. Jack just stared at him, feeling a million different things but not sure which one to convey. He wanted to scream back, but he also wanted to break down and give up. Or maybe he just wanted to keel over and let this stupid fucking disease kill him anyway.

"I love you, so much," Tim said finally, his breathing finally calm, "and I don't want to lose you to something so fixable, so preventable. What is so god damn hard about just looking Rhys in the face and telling him the truth?"

Jack swallowed hard. He hadn't really ever told anyone what was really stopping him. He always put up the usual fronts - he didn't want to be in love with an employee, he couldn't be in love with someone like Rhys, yadda yadda. He never told the real reason - or admitted to himself either.

But the truth was, Jack was afraid to be in love again. He had been in love three times before, and all of them ended, the latest one being the obvious worst out of the three. He was afraid of it happening again, any of it. He was afraid of falling out of love, was afraid of losing someone else like he lost his wife. He couldn't bear to go through any of it again. He wanted nothing more than to settle down and start a new chapter of his life (provided that Rhys loved him back, of course) - but the fear would always climb up his throat like the petals would and it would shut him up faster than anything else on this planet.

"Well?" Timothy looked at Jack expectantly. "I'm waiting."

"You wouldn't understand," Jack muttered. "You can say what you want, but I know for a fact that you have no idea how I feel when it comes to any of it."

"Try me."

"No. Because I already know."

"How?"

"You haven't watched the love of your life die right in front of you, now have you?" Jack slid a glance to Tim, but dropped his gaze back to the floor. "You don't understand how fucking hard it is for me. I understand that I'm dying. I understand that I can stop it. But it isn't as easy as you think it is, Tim. I have to wake up every morning and realize that not only is she gone, but there is someone slotted to fill the space she left, and he could get taken from me like she was." Jack gave a dry laugh. "Or maybe it doesn't have to be so drastic. Maybe he'll just wake up one morning and look me in the eyes and fall out of love with me. Hell, we don't even know if he's in love with me in the first place." He sighed. "I don't know what scares me more. Being in love with someone who may not love me back or being in love with someone in general, knowing that they could leave at any moment and there would be nothing I could do to fix it."

"Well, you can't do anything to fix the situation you're in now, either!" Tim covered his face with his hands, took a deep breath, then looked Jack dead in the face. "I'm gonna go. I'm gonna leave you alone to think about the grave you're digging and how the hell you're gonna get out of it, because you're too far down for me to reach you anymore."

Tim left with that, and the door slamming behind him added emphasis. Jack fought against the urge to call out to his brother and let his head hang, his hair falling over his face.

"Mr. Hyperion?" The nurse came in and brought him a tray of food, along with a couple bottles of water. "Dinner's being served. After this, we'll allow your other visitors to come in."

"I'm not hungry," Jack muttered without looking up. She must've not heard him (or she just didn't care) because she brought it in anyway and set it on the side table by his bed. Jack stared at it distastefully as she walked away.

"No matter if you eat it or not," she called over her shoulder, indicating that she did hear him after all and, in fact, did not care, "your next few visitors will be allowed into your room in thirty minutes. And, for the record, you should at least try to eat something. The body needs food to work properly."

The nurse left and shut the door quietly. Jack was alone again.

Carefully, Jack swung his legs off the side of the bed and stood slowly. He grabbed the IV pole and pulled it along with him as he walked to the window, staring out at the city. He wished desperately to be out there, breathing fresh air, not attached to some stupid IV drip and stuck in a hospital room wearing a paper thin gown (that thankfully had a back, which Jack was immensely grateful for).

Jack somehow spent the thirty minutes staring out the window. The nurse came back in, took his tray, then allowed Moxxi and Nisha to come in. He watched Moxxi's reflection in the window as she came up behind him and hugged him, placing her head on his shoulder.

"Jack Hyperion, I hate you so much," she told him, putting her hands against his chest. Her accent barely peeked out and tinged the ends of her words a little. "I left work early for you and you didn't even wake up until later."

"Sorry," he replied. He took one of her hands in his own and didn't look back at her.

"Hey." Nisha put one of her hands on the shoulder that Moxxi wasn't leaning against. "You're alive. Act like it."

"Sorry. I've just been thinking about things."

"What things?"

"Love things. Disease things."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Just kinda got done talking about it with Tim and Angel. They're not too happy with me, especially not Angel. Tim told her and she kinda hates me now."

"That's understandable," Moxxi commented, swaying them a little bit.

"I agree." Nisha let go of Jack's shoulder and went to go sit down in the chair by the bed where Tim sat earlier. "She's probably gonna hate your guts for the next few weeks."

"She wasn't exactly being truthful either. She fell in love with someone a while ago and has been dating them ever since, apparently."

Nisha gave Jack an exasperated look. "Don't tell me you're trying to defend yourself by saying that she was doing it too. You know why she did it. Unless you think very lowly of Angel and think that she didn't already know?"

Jack sighed. "She did. She told Tim that she already knew when he told her."

"Then you have your reason and there's no reason you can give to hold that against her. You're still in the wrong here, buddy."

Jack rolled his eyes and moved away from Moxxi, walking back to the bed. "Thanks for the clue-in, Nisha, like I didn't already know that."

Nisha held up her hands in surrender. "I'm just saying."

"You're not helping." Jack sat down and pulled his legs up onto the bed, pulling the blanket over his legs and trying to get comfortable.

Moxxi sat at the foot of Jack's bed, leaning on her hand and laying her head on her shoulder. "I think we should stop talking about Angel and start talking about you, Jack. You're the one in the hospital."

"Yeah, for a disease he shouldn't have anymore," Nisha snarkily commented, putting her feet up on the lowered handrails on the side of the bed.

Moxxi glared at her girlfriend for a second before looking back to Jack. "Even though I hate to agree with her, she's right. It's put you in the hospital and is threatening to kill you even more than it already has been. This is the part in the movie where the main character gets the epiphany and gets over himself and tells the girl he likes her already. Only now it's more important than having a date to the dance. Now it's a matter of staying alive."

Jack shook his head at her. "I don't get it. You guys are my best friends. You're supposed to side with me."

"If siding with you means letting you be right and watching you die, no thanks, I'll pass," Nisha countered. "We just don't want you to die, Jack, why can't you get that through that thick skull of yours?"

"I fucking get it, okay?!" Jack yelled as he turned his body to face her. Moxxi stood up from the bed and went to Nisha's side. Jack flicked his eyes up at her for a moment before settling his angry glare back on Nisha. "I'm gonna tell you what I told Tim - it's not as fucking easy as you god damn think it is!"

"Why, because the big shot CEO is afraid of being human and showing his feelings?" Nisha leaned forward and got closer to him. "Or maybe he's just afraid of looking weak by being in love with someone, is that it?"

"Nisha-" - Moxxi pulled her back a bit - "-c'mon, honey, get out of his face-"

"You don't know what the fuck I go through every day, Kadam," Jack snarled through gritted teeth.

"No, I don't, because I manned up and told the person I was in love with that I loved them a long time ago."

Jack looked like he'd been slapped. "You fucking idiot. You have no damn clue. None of you have any idea. I even had to explain it to my own damn brother."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Get out of my room, Nisha. I can't even look at you right now."

A muscle in Nisha's jaw ticked. "Fine. I'll get out. Hell, I'll go the fuck home." Nisha stood up and took Moxxi's hand, pulling her along. "I'll leave and let you choke to death. Hope you enjoy it, handsome. It was nice knowin' ya."

Nisha slammed the door behind the two of them. Jack fell back against the pillows, then he grabbed one of them, pushed it against his face, and screamed.

—

Rhys watched Nisha and Moxxi fly through the waiting room as he came back in from the vending machines.

"Tim, call me when his ass wants to apologize," Nisha said as they went.

"Uh, will do," Tim said as his eyes followed her. "What happened in there?"

"I'll tell you later. I just can't deal with his shit right now."

Nisha and Moxxi disappeared. Rhys stared after them and then looked over to Tim. "I, uh- I guess it's my turn to talk to him?"

"Have fun," Angel said angrily, flipping her hair out of her eyes. "Nisha probably got him all riled up for ya."

'Thanks, Nisha,' Rhys inwardly groaned. He swallowed hard, shoved the snacks he bought in his pocket, and then held his head up as he walked to Jack's room.

For some reason, he felt nervous - felt the same burn in his gut and numbness in his legs that he had when he first met Jack in person. He tried to swallow it down. There was nothing to be afraid of! Jack was his friend! Jack wasn't scary!

Okay, yes, he was, but not in the way that he was before he and Rhys bonded.

Rhys knocked on the door, gently placing his hand on the doorknob.

"What?" came Jack's voice from inside. He sounded annoyed, sad, and angry.

It hurt Rhys to hear, but he smiled a little anyway at the sound. "It's Rhys. I bring snacks and companionship."

There was a silence on the other side. Rhys waited with bated breath for Jack's reply.

"Come on in."

Rhys opened the door a little too fast for it to be considered normal, but he didn't care. Jack was okay, and he was excited to see him. "Hi," he said with a wide smile.

Jack gave a crooked half-smile. "Hi."

"You're okay."

"I am."

"I'm glad."

"Thanks. Me too."

Rhys flexed his hands and resisted the urge to walk over and hug Jack. It was unprofessional and inappropriate to hug your boss, wasn't it? Probably...

But on the flip side of the same coin, they were friends. And it wasn't unprofessional and inappropriate to hug your friend, right?

Rhys bit his lip and hugged Jack on a whim, wrapping his arms around him. He felt Jack freeze beneath his touch, but after a moment, Jack hugged him back loosely.

When Rhys let go, he could feel his blush dominating his face. "I, uh-" - Rhys cleared his throat and gave another smile - "-sorry. I'm just... really glad you're, um... y'know... alive."

Jack smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. "No, don't apologize. I've been lectured all day, and I actually really appreciate it."

Rhys smiled and sat down in the chair by the bed. He turned it to fully face Jack. "I'm happy to finally talk to you. Your friends and family are so intimidating, honestly. Even your daughter had me freaked."

Jack laughed. He put his head back against the wall. "Yeah. She looks like her mom but she's me incarnate, I swear."

"I believe it. We didn't talk much, but I could tell." Rhys crossed his arms, leaned forward, and put his elbows on his knees. "So, before we get all past it and everything.." Rhys reached over and smacked Jack's arm. "What the hell, dude?"

Jack rubbed his arm and looked at Rhys confusedly. "What the hell what?"

"You were getting Chinese food! I was sitting in my office, wondering what the hell was taking you so long and then I get the call to tell me that you're in the hospital! What the hell happened to you?" Rhys looked at him incredulously for a moment before sighing. "No, you know what? I don't even care. It was probably something that I don't need to know about anyway. I'm just glad you're alright."

Jack smiled some. "Thanks, Rhys. I'm glad you're here."

Rhys smiled back at him for a bit, then bit his lip as he said, "So, uh... onto another question..." Rhys looked Jack dead in the eyes. "Why do you wear a mask?"

Jack seemed to realize then that his mask was gone. His hands flew to his face and he looked around wildly. "Oh my God- um- shit, Rhys- you weren't supposed to see me like this- fuck-"

"Why?"

"Because it's- it's- fuck," Jack sighed, dropping his hands. "It's ugly. In a lot of different ways."

"I beg to differ," Rhys said, sitting up and crossing his legs. "Why do you think it's ugly?"

"Because! It screws up my face!" Jack scrunched his nose and covered his face with his hands again. "It makes me look like there's something wrong with me. That's for starters. And it brings all kinds of bad memories with it and it pisses me off a lot."

Rhys tilted his head to the side. "What kind of bad memories?"

Jack shook his head. "I don't know if I wanna get into it, kiddo. I really don't."

Rhys reached out and put a comforting hand on Jack's arm. "Okay. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Jack waited for what seemed like a lifetime before responding. He sighed and dropped his hands again, looking at the door. "No, no... you deserve to know. It's just... I don't talk about it with really anybody. It's a sensitive thing for me, so... try to bear with me, okay?"

Rhys nodded, but said nothing.

Jack sighed again. "It's been almost eight years since then. I was twenty-five, my wife was twenty-four, and my daughter was six. We were driving to my brother's house. It was around Thanksgiving, and we were heading over there to prep for the party and everything, y'know?" Jack smiled a little. "She rolled all windows down and turned up the radio, and she was looking in the rear view mirror and singing to Angel. Her hair was going everywhere, she was singing off-key, but she didn't care. She was happy, and I was happy too. It was a happy thing. I could hear Angel giggling and trying to sing with her, and... it was just everything I ever wanted, right then and there, and nothing could go wrong." Jack's smile faltered and his face ultimately darkened. "And that's when another car hit us from the side. It happened so fast that I didn't even know what was happening until the EMT workers told me my wife was already gone." Jack shook his head a little bit. "I thought I lost my mind that day. It was all too surreal for it to have actually happened. But it was real... Her funeral was a week later. Angel cried the whole time. I don't remember entirely what I did that day. I just remember watching them lower her casket into the ground and wanting to jump in after her."

Rhys stared at Jack and watched the sad lines etched into his face. It hurt to see him like that. He was especially vulnerable now, baring his heart like this, not even wearing his mask. He looked so human and alive in this moment that it knocked Rhys off his feet a little.

"Jack, I... I don't know what to say." When Rhys spoke, Jack turned his head to face him. Rhys gave a comforting smile. "Thank you for telling me. I really value that."

Jack gave a half-smile and shrugged. "S'nothing. You deserved to know, like I said. It's not like we're not friends or something."

"Right. And I completely get it. I was kinda like that about my arm at first, too. And my eye. I didn't want to look at the replacements because they were... they meant something had changed, you know? They meant that I wasn't a normal guy anymore. I was now some kind of mix of robot parts and human."

"Yeah... what happened to your arm, anyway?"

"Got hit by a car, actually. I threw Vaughn out of the way and it took my arm with it when it hit me. Glass was all in my face, and it got in my eye." Rhys shrugged. "But I'm better about it. The arm's always a great conversation starter."

Jack laughed, a smile fighting its way back onto his face. "Is it really?"

"Oh heck yeah. People love this thing. They think it's wicked cool."

"Of course it's wicked cool. It's Hyperion-made."

Rhys smiled and rolled his eyes. "Somebody's conceited."

"Just a little. You know I'm kidding."

"You're only half-kidding."

"Yeah, you're right."

They laughed together. Rhys could feel his heart swell at the sound of their laughs blending in the air. It was a pretty sound, a happy sound, and it made Rhys feel so much better than he did when he first got to the hospital.

"So," Jack started after the laughter died down, "where's those snacks you were talking about?"

"Oh, yeah." Rhys pulled candy out of his pockets. "I got Skittles, M&M's, and then the peanut M&M's."

"Peanut M&M's are the reason I wake up in the morning, honestly," Jack laughed. He picked up the yellow package and tore it open, popping the candies into his mouth. "Thanks, kiddo. I didn't eat the food they brought in here, so I'm starving."

Rhys made a disgusted face. "Yeah, I wouldn't either. I can go get you some actual food, though?"

Jack shook his head. "Don't worry about it right now. I'll live. And I kinda don't want you to leave."

Rhys blushed a little bit, smiling as he picked up the original M&M's and opened the pack. "Then I guess I'll stay right here for as long as you need."

—

Angel peeked through the window of Jack's door. She watched as her dad smiled and laughed with Rhys, then hurried away before she got caught.

When she walked back into the waiting room, she sat down beside Tim with a huff. "I'm so mad."

"I know, sweet pea."

"Not about that. Well, yes about that, but not about that."

Tim looked down at her. "What are you mad about, then?"

Angel motioned her arms in the general direction of her dad's room. "Him! In there! With that guy! All happy and laughing and- ugh!" Angel covered her face with her hands and groaned into them, then she looked up at her uncle. "He looks happier than I've ever seen, and I wanna be mad but I wanna be happy for him too!"

Tim furrowed his brow. "Why would he be...?" Then it hit him, and Angel could almost see the lightbulb flick on in his head. "Ohhh. Rhys is in there."

"Is Rhys the person? Is he Dad's person?"

"What do you mean?"

"Is he the one Dad's in love with?" she asked quietly, just in case. Rhys could come back into the waiting room at any time and she didn't want to risk it.

Tim nodded. "He's the one. That's why he made Rhys his assistant. To make it easier to tell him or whatever."

"That's a terrible idea!"

"I know! That's what I tried to tell him!"

Angel slumped down into her chair. "Not only is he a liar, he's a dumb liar."

"I know." Tim checked his phone. "Wilhelm's on his way."

"Okay." Angel paused for a moment before sliding an angry gaze to Tim. "Does he know about Dad?"

Tim sighed. "Yes, he knows, so you can be mad at him too."

Angel groaned. "I hate all of you."

"We know. And we understand."

"Good. Because I don't feel like explaining it again." Angel kicked her legs a little bit. "Would you mind taking me to get Gaige after Uncle Wil gets here?"

"Sounds fine. You think your dad'll get pissed?"

"You think I care right now?"

Tim chuckled a little. "Good point."

—

Vaughn took a deep breath as he stood in the waiting room in his pajamas, staring at all the sleeping people.

It was a little after midnight, so it was understandable that they were sleeping. There were less people than expected, if Vaughn was being honest, but he was pretty thankful for it.

He counted the people as he saw them - two girls, one pretty big guy (who seemed to have cybernetics, kinda like Rhys), and then Rhys himself, who Vaughn actually expected to be here. The girls were leaned up against each other and on the bigger guy, and Rhys was laid on a loveseat, his legs pulled tight against him. Vaughn wished he had a blanket or something, it was cold in the waiting room, and even colder because of the drafty windows. Maybe he could ask a nurse about it.

Vaughn made sure to be quiet as he sneaked to Jack's room, trying to appear as calm as possible as not to alert anyone. He took a quick turn down the hall that Jack's room was on, and was surprised to see a man outside his room.

The man looked like a younger Jack, but with subtle differences: laugh lines, dimple creases, freckles - and the lack of a streak in his hair. Vaughn studied him for a moment before coming into full view.

The man stood up when he noticed Vaughn, slightly towering over him. "Can I... help you?" the man asked, sounding confused. He looked Vaughn up and down.

"I'm here to see Jack," Vaughn said confidently. "I need to talk to him."

"Who even are you?"

"I could ask you the same thing, couldn't I?"

"Uh... no, not really, considering I was already here and I have business seeing my own brother in the hospital."

Vaughn pursed his lips. The man - Jack's brother, apparently - had a point. "Okay, well- I'm his employee. And Rhys's best friend. And I need to talk to Jack."

"Are you sure you really need to talk to him or do you just wanna find out why he's in the hospital?"

Vaughn sighed and spread his hands. "Look, I get it. I'm just some dude that you don't know who wants to see your brother. But I already know why he's in here, and I need to see him, and it can't wait until he gets out. It's really important."

"Hold on, hold on, go back. How do you know? He didn't tell anybody."

Vaughn rolled his eyes as he remembered that ride in the elevator. "When a guy spews flower petals into your laptop bag, you find out a few things about him, wouldn't you think?"

The man's eyes widened a little bit, then he sat back down. "Fine. Be my guest. But if he's asleep, I'm not helping you wake him up."

"Thanks," Vaughn said as he walked into the room.

Jack was eating Jell-O and staring up at the television that was mounted on the wall. Vaughn strode over quickly and slapped the Jell-O cup out of Jack's hand, then backed up before Jack could retaliate.

"What the hell?" Jack asked, glaring at Vaughn. "I can fire you for that, y'know."

"You wouldn't," Vaughn said, confidence shrinking some but not dwindling.

"Wouldn't I?" Jack said, brushing bits of red gelatin off of himself.

"You wouldn't unless you- unless you want me to tell Rhys that you're in love with him," Vaughn said slyly.

Jack snapped his eyes up, narrowing them and glaring. "You wouldn't."

Vaughn crossed his arms and smirked. "Wouldn't I?"

Jack purses his lips. "Touché." He laid back, putting the arm that wasn't attached to the IV behind his head. "What do you want, Vinn?"

"It's Vaughn. And I want to talk to you. About Rhys."

"Okay."

"You're in love with him."

"I know."

"And you've been in love with him for a while."

"Yup."

"And now you're in the hospital."

"Right."

"Aren't you gonna do anything about it?"

"I'm trying."

"No you're not. Someone who was trying wouldn't be in this mess."

Jack sighed. "Listen, Vann-"

"It's Vaughn."

Jack gave him a look. "Vaughn. Listen. It's complicated. But trust me, I'm trying. Okay?"

"I don't believe you, but I really hope that you really are trying, because if you die on Rhys, I will literally revive your ass just to kill you."

Jack widened his eyes. "Wow, okay."

"I mean it! This is beyond you and your family, Jack! This is my family now, and I'll be damned if you're gonna mess it up!"

Jack furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

Vaughn took a deep breath and put his fingers to his temples, closing his eyes. "I don't know what Rhys would do if you died, okay? I don't know how he feels about you other than the fact that he was over the frickin' moon about your date the other night."

Jack smiled softly. He lowered his arm and put his hand over his heart. "He thought it was a date?"

"He was trying to say it wasn't but I could tell that he was excited about being out with you. He likes you, okay?" Vaughn dropped his hands to his sides, clenching his fists. "Now, think about it like this. He likes you, you love him, you get all close and then bam, you choke in your sleep. Of course, he goes to your funeral, he probably drags me along, then I have no choice but to break it to him that you loved him, but you couldn't work up the nerve to tell him. Do you know how much that would fuck him up? Do you?"

Jack relaxed against the pillows and looked up at Vaughn. "No, but-"

"But nothing. I'm not gonna stand by and let you die only so it can come back and break Rhys's heart. He's done too much for me as a person and as a friend for me to let that happen to him when there's something I can do about it."

Jack looked out the window. Vaughn's eyes scrutinized every bit of his form. He watched his pulse beat in the vein in his neck, watched his chest rise and fall with every breath. He thought about the flowers blooming in there. They were brown and blue, the colors of Rhys's eyes. The idea gave him a weird feeling. He couldn't place it.

"I'm sorry," Jack murmured, moving his eyes from the window to meet with Vaughn's.

Vaughn was floored. "W-what?"

"I said... I'm sorry. I didn't- I thought it was-" Jack sighed. "I never really thought about it affecting anyone other than me. Even when my friends would talk about it. The only person besides myself that I imagined it even remotely affecting was my daughter..."

Vaughn crossed his arms and walked to the window. "Y-yeah, well, it's a lot more than that. Not only will you destroy your family, but Rhys won't come out of that well either. It'd kill him. And then I'd have to kill you. Like I said, I will find a way to bring you back from the dead just to murder you."

Jack gave a weak chuckle. "Yeah, I get that. I got it the first time."

Vaughn turned around, leaning against the wall. "So we understand each other. You're gonna try and fix this, right?"

Jack nodded slowly. "Yeah. I mean, we're going on a date Friday... if I get outta here in time."

"Oh, please, you'll be out in the morning. You'll be fine." Vaughn straightened the t-shirt he was wearing. "But I'm gonna go back home now. I had to wait until I thought everyone would be asleep as not to raise any questions from Rhys."

"Is everyone asleep out there?"

"Not your brother. He's outside the door."

"Oh, yeah. That's Tim. He's harmless."

"Maybe to you. He looks like he could kick my ass."

"Anyone looks like they could kick your ass, kid."

"Duly noted." Vaughn walked towards the door. "Goodnight, Jack."

"It's still 'sir' to you," Jack called as Vaughn walked out. "But yeah. Goodnight."

Vaughn left the hospital (but not without asking the nurse to get a blanket for Rhys) and went home, driving down the highway and heading back to his apartment building.

When he got there, he sat in his car for a moment and sent a quick text to Rhys.

[sent, 12:42 AM] hey

[sent, 12:42 AM] you up?

A few minutes later, Vaughn got a response - a text from 'THE COMPANY MAN'.

[THE COMPANY MAN, 12:45 AM] now I am

[THE COMPANY MAN, 12:45 AM] you okay?

[sent, 12:45 AM] yeah

[sent, 12:46 AM] just wanted to know how you were

[sent, 12:46 AM] and how jack is

[THE COMPANY MAN, 12:47 AM] I'm okay. sleepy. but he's fine! though I forgot to ask him what he ended up in the hospital for because I'm an idiot

[THE COMPANY MAN, 12:47 AM] I mean it's whatever, at least he's alive

[sent, 12:47 AM] yeah

[sent, 12:48 AM] what if you had to become CEO because he died

[THE COMPANY MAN, 12:48 AM] I can see the headline now

[THE COMPANY MAN, 12:49 AM] INTRODUCING THE WORST CEO EVER, RHYS BENNETT, NEW CEO OF HYPERION

[sent, 12:49 AM] lmao

[sent, 12:49 AM] you should get some sleep. i know i need to

[THE COMPANY MAN, 12:50 AM] yeah, yeah

[THE COMPANY MAN, 12:50 AM] goodnight bro, love ya

[sent, 12:50 AM] gay

[THE COMPANY MAN, 12:51 AM] DUDE

[sent, 12:51 AM] KIDDING

[sent, 12:51 AM] I LOVE YOU TOO

[sent, 12:51 AM] GOODNIGHT

Vaughn smiled at his phone screen before pocketing the device, slamming his car door shut and taking the stairs up to his apartment two at a time. When he got up to his apartment, he went straight to his room, sliding into bed after taking his glasses off.

He stared up at the stucco ceiling and traced lines with his eyes as he thought about Jack. He was gonna fix it. He was trying to fix it, actively. And Vaughn could stop stressing about it for a few seconds and take a breather.

He sighed with a small smile and settled further into bed. Now all he had to worry about was if Rhys was in love with anyone.

Rhys wouldn't hide it from him. He knew that. But maybe he just wasn't sure how to tell him if he was. He was showing all the tell-tale signs... And he was coughing a lot, even all their friends had said so.

Vaughn shook his head and turned over. He would worry about it in the morning. Right now, it was late, and he wanted to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> vaughn is an angel and anyone wanting to disagree with me can get sent out via airlock lmao later hoe


	12. Chapter 12

Rhys sat in his apartment the next morning after seeing Jack off from the hospital. He knew Jack was in good hands - he was with his brother and his brother's... friend? Boyfriend? Husband? ...whatever - and he seemed content enough.

After Jack left, Rhys grabbed himself some coffee and went home, ready to catch up on the sleep he lost from deciding to squish himself onto a loveseat all night.

He settled himself on the couch after preparing himself for sleep - turning on the television for background noise, grabbing some pillows and a blanket from the hall closet - and laid with his back facing the television.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, his phone went off, ringing loudly from the coffee table. Rhys groaned and reached back for it without turning around. He knocked it into the floor, then swiped it up and answered it with a grunt. "Rhys Bennett."

"Nah, it's Fiona, but good guess, though." Fiona laughed. "Hey, are you free?"

"I'm trying to sleep. I just spent the last ten hours squished onto a tiny hospital loveseat and it was awful."

"So you're free?"

Rhys sighed. "Yeah, I guess. Why?"

"Just wanted to drag you along to the mall with me, Sasha, and August. Vaughn said he'd come before work, so you can skip being Handsome Jack's bitch for a day and come hang with your actual friends, y'know?"

"Well, Handsome Jack himself just got out of the hospital this morning, and I wanted to leave myself available, just in case he needed me."

Fiona groaned. "I'm already almost there, so you can't deny me as I'm dragging you out by your dumb hair."

"Ugh, fine! But if he calls, at all, I'm leaving. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, got it. Gotta be there for your boyfriend."

Rhys sat up and blushed, thankful that Fiona couldn't see him through the phone. "He's not my boyfriend, Fiona."

"Your weird obsession with him has only gotten worse since you became his assistant. Boyfriend."

"Stop it."

Fiona laughed. "I'm pulling in now. I should be there in a minute."

"Whatever. I'm gonna go get ready."

Rhys hung up and got to his feet, stretching and yawning. He ended the yawn with a groan as he stopped stretching, then walked towards the stairs to get up to his room.

A cough fought its way up Rhys's throat. Rhys rolled his eyes as he coughed into his hands. He knew what to expect - three petals now, which was a little harder to get out, but it wasn't impossible - and it was almost routine at this point.

Fiona opened the door and stepped inside. "Howdy, jackass."

Panic flooded Rhys as the petals went directly into his hands, flying from his mouth in a clump. He stared at them, his heart racing. Was he getting dizzy? The room felt a little tilted...

Fiona stared at him, seeming frozen in place. "Rhys," she started, stepping forward, "what.. what is that?"

"Not what it looks like," Rhys said, putting the petals behind his back and turning his body to face her. He started to back up. "I-It's not what it looks like and I can explain everything-"

"It looked like flower petals, Rhys," she yelled over him as she was taking slow steps toward him. "Do you have the disease?"

"Fiona-"

"Answer me, Rhys."

"Would you just-"

"Are those flower petals or not?!"

"They are!" Rhys yelled back, throwing the petals to the floor. "They're petals, okay?!"

Fiona stared at them. She knelt down to get a better look without having to touch them. She looked back up at him, scowling. "Who."

"No. I'm not telling."

"Rhys. Who is it."

"No."

"You know what? I have a better idea." She stood to her full height and pulled out her phone. "Instead of going to the mall, we're all gonna sit right here and figure this out, since you don't wanna talk."

"Fiona-"

"Nope. Don't think you're getting out of hiding this for-" - she looked back and counted the petals then turned back to him, dialing someone's number on her phone - "-three fucking months. Three months? Really?"

"I didn't know how to tell you guys!" Rhys grabbed for Fiona's phone. "Fiona. Quit calling whoever you're calling!"

"Vaughn can bring Yvette, right?" Fiona shoved him away from her as Sasha answered and she put the phone to her ear. "Hey, sis, change of plans. Get August and head over to Rhys's. We have things to discuss. I'm gonna call Vaughn and have him bring Yvette."

"Fiona!" Rhys yelled. "I really can't do this!"

"Well too bad! You're gonna! Maybe you should've thought about it when you decided to hide it from us for three months!"

"Hide what?" Rhys heard Sasha ask.

"I'll tell you when you get here, just get here. Love you, gonna call Vaughn now." She hung up and dialed Vaughn's number with lightning speed. She put the phone to her ear and waited for a beat before speaking. "Hey, loser. Get Yvette and come to Rhys's. We got shit to talk about and you both need to be here. Bye." She hung up quick and crossed her arms. "You're gonna have lots of explaining to do when they all get here. So I'll wait until then to hear it all. Take a shower and put on some clean clothes. You smell like a hospital." She went and sat on the couch.

Rhys pulled his shirt up and sniffed it. Surely enough, he smelled like antiseptic and clean linen. He rolled his eyes. "Well, I did just spend a day of my life in a hospital.."

"Just go already. Everyone should be here by the time you're done."

Rhys only listened to her because it gave him an excuse to leave the room.

Once up in the safety of his room, Rhys locked the door and sat on the bed, feeling like he was trapped. There was no way out of this, was there? Fiona was gonna force him to talk, and if it wasn't gonna be her, then Sasha or Yvette would gladly do it for her, and the three of them together wouldn't stop unless they got an answer.

Rhys sighed heavily and went to his bathroom, then undressed, then detached his arm and laid it gingerly down on the counter before starting the shower and stepping in. He slid the shower curtain shut behind him.

What was he gonna do? He couldn't just hide in the shower forever. (Well, he could, if August wasn't coming - but August was on his way, had no shame and would definitely bust his door in to come in after him. Nobody else would or could do it.)

After thoroughly cleaning his hair and body, Rhys reattached his arm, put on his bathrobe, and left the bathroom. He grabbed some simple jeans and a t-shirt from his closet and mismatched socks from a drawer, then began to get dressed.

"Rhys?" It was Vaughn's voice, coming from behind the door. "Fiona sent me up here to tell you to hurry."

"Of course she did," Rhys muttered as he pulled on his jeans. "I'll be down in a minute," he called.

"Okay. Is everything okay with you?"

"No. I'll be down in a minute and we'll talk about it."

"Oh. Okay."

Rhys heard Vaughn's footsteps go down the hall, then down the stairs. He sighed and pulled his shirt on, then bent down and tugged on his socks. He sat on his bed for a moment, taking a moment to think.

Could he do it? The question was rattling in his brain. Could he actually come forward with his friends and tell them everything? He wanted to, he really did. They deserved to know. They were basically his family.

Then again, his actual family didn't know...

Rhys groaned and put his fingers to his temples, inhaling and exhaling deeply. Okay. Really. He had to get his shit together. Shit was hitting the fan now and the mess was getting to be too big for Rhys to handle on his own. He had to tell them everything.

"Rhys, we're waiting!" came Sasha's voice from downstairs. "August is ready to bust down your door and make you come down here if he has to!"

Rhys went to the door and walked out, shutting his door behind him. He walked downstairs and smiled tightly at the group. "Okay, I'm here. Now what?"

"Now-" - Fiona grabbed his arm and pulled him along to plant him firmly on one of his ottomans, right in full view of everyone, then she took a seat on the couch with August and Sasha - "-you spill it. Tell them what I know, then tell us everything."

"Rhys. What's going on." Yvette pushed her glasses up and her hair out of her face. "I don't have time for this, and neither does Vaughn. Or you, for that matter - why weren't you at work?"

Rhys sighed. "I don't feel like getting into that, since I'm about to tell you this."

"This better be good," August said, kicking his feet up on Rhys's coffee table. "I don't wanna be wasting my time here, dude."

"Don't dude me. Give me a minute." Rhys took another deep breath, held it for a few seconds, then let it go. "Okay. This is major. I've been hiding something for a couple months-"

"Three months," Fiona interjected.

Rhys gave her a look. "Yes. Thank you. Fiona." He looked back to the rest of the group. "A-anyway, yeah. Three months. I didn't want to keep it that long-"

"But you did," Fiona interrupted again.

"Fiona!" Rhys groaned. "Okay, okay, unless I quit stalling, she's not gonna stop interrupting me, so..." He squeezed his eyes shut, dropping his head down and clenching his hands into fists in his lap. "I have... I have the Hanahaki Disease."

"What?!" was the collective response, sans Fiona.

Vaughn stood up from his seat and he put a hand to his chest. "Bro- you lied to me?"

Rhys looked up at Vaughn honestly. "I-I didn't want to, I swear! But I didn't know how to tell you- or any of you!"

"We're your friends, Rhys," Sasha insisted. "It shouldn't have been that hard to tell us."

"I'm not even your friend," August scoffed, "and I still feel lied to."

"I'm sorry, okay?" Rhys crossed his arms and put his elbows on his knees. "I know I could have handled that tons better, but I didn't know what to do. I was in love with someone and it scared me. I've never been in love with someone before."

Vaughn sat back down, took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I just can't believe you lied to me. Me. Your bro. I've been your bro since preschool. And you still lie to me like this. I even came out and asked you if you were in love, and you told me no, then proceeded to tell me that you would tell me if you were. Now I don't know what to believe."

"Believe me when I say I didn't want to lie to you, Vaughn," Rhys countered.

"You guys can fight this out later," Yvette cut in. She crossed her legs at the knees and crossed her arms over her chest. "I wanna know who it is."

Sasha grinned at her wickedly, then looked at Rhys with a slightly crazy gleam in her eyes. "Oh, riiight. That's still out there."

"Oh, no, I don't think so," Rhys laughed as he straightened back up. "I get telling you guys that I have the disease, but-"

"Bro. Don't hide more shit from us. C'mon," Vaughn urged, but there wasn't mischievous intent behind his voice like there was behind Sasha's.

Rhys bit his lip in contemplation. Vaughn had a point: hiding more shit from his friends was definitely not the way to go. But he couldn't tell them that he was in love with Handsome goddamn Jack, especially not Vaughn and Yvette. There would be no such thing as getting away from it.

Rhys's phone rang from the table and he snatched it up, reading the caller ID - Jack, followed by every money emoji that existed. He thanked God for it as he looked at the group. "I gotta take this."

"You better tell us after," August said, running one of his hands through his hair. "I wanna know, too, just so I know if I have to be grossed out or not."

Rhys rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks, August." He walked into the kitchen. "I'll be back in a sec."

Once he was sure that the group wasn't listening to him, he answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Rhys," said Jack's voice over the phone. He sounded tired. Worn out. Like he needed more than sleep. Like he needed and full bottle of whiskey and a fresh pack of cigarettes. "Where're you at?"

"Uh, home," Rhys replied, hopping up on his counter. "I wanted to stay open just in case you needed me. You okay?"

"Oh, yeah. Just lonely. My daughter isn't home. Not that she'd wanna talk to me, anyway. She's ignoring me at the moment. In fact, she's ignoring me so hard that she's staying with my brother instead of coming home."

"Is she? Why's that?"

"I lied to her, essentially. That's really it."

"Oh. Well, that'll do it. I hated my parents when they lied to me. They wouldn't tell me stuff because I was the baby, but they'd tell my sisters everything."

Jack laughed. "I momentarily forgot you had siblings."

Rhys smiled at hearing Jack's laugh. "Don't feel bad. I do too, sometimes."

Jack laughed again, and Rhys wanted to be where was, kissing those smiling lips and being with him. Hell, to just be at Jack's house with him would make him feel better, considering the circumstances.

But for now, he was content sitting in his kitchen and being on the phone with him; it gave him proof that Jack was fine, which made everything at the current moment a little better.

—

Vaughn listened closely to Rhys in the kitchen, trying to see if he could discern who he was talking to.

"Y'know, he seemed pretty excited to get that phone call," Sasha implied. She looked at the kitchen entrance and smiled. "Maybe the person that called is the person he's in love with."

"Or maybe he was just excited to get away from us," Vaughn suggested, shrugging. "He hates being cornered like that."

"I'm betting money on it being his person. Did you see the caller ID?" Sasha asked Fiona, tossing her legs over her sister's lap. "I saw emojis but I didn't see which ones."

"They were the money ones," Yvette commented, shrugging. "Maybe one of his sisters? I think it's his oldest sister that's bad about borrowing money from him."

"Yeah, but it wasn't her," Fiona replied, shaking her head. "I didn't see an 'R' anywhere on the ID."

"I think I saw an 'I'," August said, "but my vision is shit, so I'm willing to bet it was anything but an 'I'. Maybe a 'J' or an 'L'?"

Sasha laid back against August, putting her head on his shoulder. "Eh. Whatever. We can drill him about it when he gets back in here." Sasha smiled at August. "Remember back when we were in love?"

"Yeah, I do. I remember you puking up your petals on my bedroom floor and my mom made me clean it up."

"Hey, you coughed up yours on my front porch, I don't wanna hear it."

"You ruined my floor. I can never look at that spot without thinking of you hacking your lungs up." August shook his head. "I'm so glad we're not together anymore. I dodged a major bullet there."

"Same here. I don't think I could love your dumb beard for all of eternity."

August smiled and shoved her off of him as she laughed.

Rhys came back into the room with a little huff, shoving his phone in his pocket. A smile adorned his face, and Vaughn stared at him.

Rhys's face dropped. "What?" he asked, slightly apprehensive. 

"Who were you on the phone with?" Vaughn asked, standing up slowly, as if Rhys was an easily-scared animal.

Rhys shook his head dismissively. "Nobody. Just a friend."

"Sounded like more than a friend," August cut in, furrowing his brow. "Sounded kinda... gooey? Sticky? I don't know. It sounded kinda lovey-dovey to me."

Rhys laughed, but you could tell it was all nerves. "W-what are you talking about? It was just my friend."

Fiona stood up and held out her hand. "Then give me your phone and let me see who it was."

Rhys held his phone protectively in his hands. "What? No way!"

"Then I have reason to believe that it's not just a friend and it was your person and we'll do everything in our power to figure it out."

"It wasn't my person, it was just my friend!"

"Then let me see your phone and see who it was!"

"No!"

Fiona snatched the phone from Rhys's hands and laughed as she ran away with it.

"Fiona!" Rhys cried out when she grabbed it, chasing after her.

"I can't unlock your phone while you're chasing me!" Fiona called back over her shoulder.

"Good!" he called back, lunging for his phone. "Give it back!"

They circled around the apartment twice before Fiona tossed the phone to Sasha. She cried out and tossed it to August, who grunted and tossed it to Vaughn, who got up and sprinted to the stairs with only a fleeting second of hesitation, running straight for Rhys's room.

"Vaughn, don't!" Rhys yelled, chasing him up the stairs.

Vaughn shut himself in Rhys's bedroom, locking the door and bumping his back against it.

Rhys pounded on the door. "Vaughn. Vaughn! C'mon, don't be like them. You're my bro!"

"Why are you so adamant about hiding it from me, then, if I'm your bro?" Vaughn called back.

"Dude, please, seriously, don't do this to me!"

Against his better judgement, Vaughn unlocked Rhys's phone and checked his call history, his heart thumping hard in his chest. What was he expecting? Was he expecting some kind of scandalous thing to be waiting there?

The 'Recent' tab took a moment to load. Of course it did - it had to load, to add to Vaughn's anticipation and fear. Rhys had to be hiding his person's name in here, or he wouldn't be so determined to keep it secret.

The call list loaded. Vaughn swiped down, to hide the name for a couple more seconds, to take a deep breath. He was alright. He was just about to find out. He was about to know.

"Vaughn? Vaughn!" Fiona was on the other side of the door now. "You alive in there?"

"Vaughn, please, you can't - you won't look at me the same way. None of you will. You can just slide my phone back under the door and I'll get it. Please." Rhys sounded like he was right against the door.

Vaughn weighed his options now, as if he wasn't sure of them before. Option one: give Rhys his phone. Rhys keeps his secret and isn't mad at Vaughn. Fiona, however, will be, and so will everyone else downstairs. Option two: find out. Just swipe to the top and know who Rhys's person is. Have the satisfaction of knowing and maybe helping Rhys tell the person. Also having the ability to hold it over everyone's heads. But it came with the cost of Rhys being mad at him, for at least a little while.

Vaughn clenched his jaw and decided to swipe up.

—

Rhys waited with bated breath. Vaughn was scarily, suspiciously quiet. It made Rhys's heartbeat sound louder in his ears, and the fact that the rest of the apartment was dead silent didn't help.

There was quiet thudding on the other side of the door. The lock turned, then the door opened, revealing Vaughn, with a scowl on his face. Rhys had seen that look before; he had seen it when he would come home late from a party during college, when he would eat all of Vaughn's cereal and not tell him until the next morning. But there was something else lingering in Vaughn's eyes, and Rhys couldn't place it. Or maybe he was afraid to admit to himself what it was.

"I cannot believe you, Rhys," Vaughn said through gritted teeth. He shoved his phone against his chest. "Not only did you not tell me that you were in love, but I had to literally lock myself in your room with your phone to find out that it's fucking Jack?"

Rhys held his phone in both hands. "Vaughn, I told you, it was just my friend. Jack can be my friend, right?"

"Then tell me it isn't Jack," Vaughn countered. "Look me in the eye and tell me that Jack isn't your person."

Rhys looked him in the eye, but he turned his gaze quickly, unable to lie to Vaughn for what seemed like the millionth time.

Yvette, who was standing behind Sasha and August at the top of the stairs, immediately turned and walked back down to the living room. "That's it. That's enough information for Yvette today. I'm going home."

August shook his head and followed Yvette. "I'm outta here too. Sasha, I'll be in the car."

Sasha met eyes with Rhys, shook her head, then went behind August. "No, wait up, I'm coming."

Fiona still looked shell-shocked. Her wide eyes stared at Rhys's face, and Rhys had moved back to staring blankly at Vaughn.

"I'm gonna... I'm gonna go," Fiona said, walking backwards. "We'll talk about this once I can actually use my brain fully."

Fiona practically ran downstairs. Rhys heard his front door slam, but paid it no mind. He kept his eyes trained on Vaughn. He hadn't moved a single muscle.

"You lied to me," Vaughn started, stepping forward, glaring up at Rhys. "Even when I asked you directly if you were in love. You told me no, and then reassured me - you fucking reassured me - that you would tell me if you were. And I had to go through this bullshit to find out that it was all a lie. Do you know how fucked up that is?"

"Vaughn, I- I know, I messed up, but I'm sorry and-"

"No. You don't get to just apologize for this. That's not how this is gonna work. You lied to me, Rhys. This isn't something little like cheating at Injustice or not healing me when we play Overwatch or spoiling a movie for me. That shit you can apologize for, but not this." Vaughn started to walk away. "I'm going home. I'm not going into work today. I can't look at you or our friggin' boss the same way ever again."

"Vaughn, wait," Rhys said as he grabbed Vaughn's wrist. "I didn't want to lie to you. You know that, right?"

"I don't know what I know anymore, Rhys," Vaughn said. He tugged his arm away. "Just.. leave me alone."

Vaughn walked downstairs and left the apartment without slamming the door, despite being obviously angry. Rhys stared at the staircase, expecting Vaughn to come back and they could talk it out. He didn't care about everyone else being mad at him. Vaughn was his bro, his only bro. He hated it when Vaughn was mad at him for the small things, let alone the huge things.

And this was definitely not a small thing.

Rhys sighed and walked down to the living room, plopping down on the couch and then stretching himself out on it. He had never felt so alone before, and it was all his fault that he was in this mess to begin with.

He should've just been honest from the beginning. He should've told Yvette and Vaughn that day, when he found the petal on his tongue. God, that seemed like years ago at this point... He was three months in now. He was in deep.

At least he had made it somewhere with Jack, despite not telling his friends. They were going on a date Friday, and at least now he could tell his friends and not have to be so secretive.

Well, if they wanted to talk to him by then, that is.

Rhys groaned and covered his face. This was terrible. He had no one to rant to about it either. He couldn't call his friends, who were mad at him, to complain about his friends, who were mad at him.

Rhys's phone dinged. He sighed and looked at the screen. A text from Jack was there, and Rhys tapped the notification bubble to open the full message.

[Jack, 11:02 am] hey. had a feeling something was up. you ok?

Rhys smiled at the message. It was sweet, that Jack was asking him if he was okay. He didn't have to, but he did it anyway, and it made Rhys's heart flutter. He shot back a quick response.

[sent,11:03 am] yeah, I'm okay. Thanks for checking on me.

[Jack, 11:04 am] no prob. I just got a weird feeling that something happened.

[sent, 11:06 am] it's nothing. It's just that my friends came over and we all said some stuff and it.. it was kinda draining in a lot of different ways.

[Jack, 11:07 am] need me to come over? I can make you feel better ;)

[sent, 11:08 am] JACK

[Jack, 11:09 am] I'M SORRY

[Jack, 11:09 am] FORGET I SAID THAT

[Jack, 11:10 am] I'M BAD AT NOT FLIRTING WITH PEOPLE IT'S KINDA MY THING

[sent, 11:11 am] CAN YOU MAYBE CHILL

[Jack, 11:12 am] I'M SORRY!!!

[Jack, 11:12 am] please forgive me and my terrible flirts xx

[sent, 11:13 am] only if you take me to dinner.

[Jack, 11:13 am] ??? we're already going on a date Friday how many dinners do you want

[sent, 11:13 am] ...

[sent, 11:14 am] I was trying to flirt back, Jack.

[Jack, 11:14 am] OH

[Jack, 11:15 am] god I hate myself so much sometimes I'm so dumb

[sent, 11:16 am] it's okay. At least you're pretty.

[Jack, 11:16 am] hehe, yeah

[Jack, 11:17 am] at least I have that going for me lmao

[Jack, 11:20 am] but i'm gonna leave you alone now. you probably need some better sleep, since my ass decided to get all hospitalized and your ass decided to stay with me.

[sent, 11:22 am] pfff. Okay. I do need some sleep if I plan on being any use to you when we go back to work in the morning.

[Jack, 11:23 am] Right. I'll talk to you later. Text me if you need me xx

[sent, 11:23 am] will do. Talk to you later xx

Rhys hesitated only for a moment before sending the last text. He was only doing what Jack did, and if Jack was comfortable with talking like that, Rhys could be too. It was just texting. It wasn't like they were committing a crime by being a little flirty, right?

He laid his phone down and turned onto his side on the couch, facing away from his television that was still playing lowly. He took a deep breath, yawned, and closed his eyes. Getting some needed sleep and letting go of his problems for at least a little while was a good idea. He could figure it all out in the morning, when he had a fair amount of sleep and could think more clearly.

He pulled his blanket over his body and settled into the couch, and it wasn't long before sleep clamped onto the edges of his body and drew him away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RHYS
> 
> Y R U LIKE THIS
> 
> AAAAAAAAAA
> 
> but hey Jack and Rhys's cute texts at the end amirite lmao
> 
> and VAUGHN !!!!!!!!!! my poor baby boy you’re so stressed i’m SobbingTM


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a dialogue-heavy chapter, just a heads-up!!

Vaughn was so mad and frustrated on the drive home that he couldn't even see straight.

He had valid reason - his best friend, his dude, his bro, was lying to him, and had been lying to him for a while. At least three months.

And that pissed him off.

A lot.

Vaughn gripped the steering wheel and clenched his jaw. There were so many things wrong with the current situation. Rhys was in love, that was one. He was in love with Jack, that was two...

And Vaughn had his own secrets to hide, too. That was three.

He knew he was being a little hypocritical (and he should go back and apologize, at least for being such a major douche). He was hiding something from Rhys, too, but it was different in Vaughn's case. He had asked Rhys directly if he was in love and if he would tell him if he was. That's where it differed. It never came up on Vaughn's end, so technically he wasn't lying. But Rhys lied to Vaughn's face.

Vaughn pulled up to his apartment building and quickly headed inside. Once in the safety of his apartment, he sat on the couch, took off his shoes, then brought his legs up and crossed them.

He had a lot of problems and no one to talk them out with. He wanted to talk to someone, but not anyone who knew him. Not anyone that already knew his friends. He wanted someone who could view his problems and give him an objective answer, not someone who would give him the answer they thought he wanted.

But... how? How could he get to someone like that?

Vaughn thought for a moment. There was someone he had in mind, but it was an extremely long shot. He had only talked to the dude once, and that was in a small time frame. He knew people who knew him, because he knew vaguely who Jack's friends were, and he knew that one of his friends knew Jack's friends. He could do it, should everything go well...

He pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts. He didn't have to search long before he found her, and he clicked on the little 'Call' button, then put the phone to his ear.

"Athena Springs," Athena said after the phone rang a couple times.

Vaughn smiled some. "You don't have to say that every time you answer the phone. I know who I'm calling. And you know it was me, right?"

"It's a professional thing, Vaughn. Don't question it."

Vaughn shook his head a little bit. "Right. Well. Can I ask you a huge favor?"

"Uh... does it involve leaving my house at all? I seriously can't leave. Janey's not here and Davis should be coming home soon."

"Athena, he gets out of school at three. It's barely almost eleven-thirty. But no, it doesn't involve you leaving your house."

"Okay, then. What do you need?"

"I need the sheriff's number."

"Look on the city's website."

"No, her personal one. I need her to do something for me too, and if I tell her I got her number from you, she might be more willing to help me. Y'know. Because you know her and I know you."

Athena sighed. "I understand where you're coming from, but I don't know where you're going with this. What are you doing?"

"I can't tell you. That's why I need the number."

Athena sighed again. "Okay. But if she tells me you were being weird, I'm gonna kick your ass. She's a good friend of mine and I don't need you freaking her out."

"Okay. Thank you so much."

Athena gave him the number as he put her on speaker and put it into his notes. He thanked her again before he got off the phone.

Okay. He had the next number he needed. This was going smoothly so far. Sure, talking to the city's sheriff was gonna be stressful, but Vaughn wasn't scared. The worst she could do was say no. That was all.

Of course, that would stop his plan in its tracks and ultimately fuck it up, but yeah, it was the worst she could do.

Vaughn took a deep breath and dialed the number slowly, but put the phone on speaker instead, crossing his fingers and praying she answered.

"Nisha Kadam."

The voice on the other line was tense and serious. It gave Vaughn slight anxiety, but he swallowed it down and said, "Hi, um, this is Vaughn Hardwick? Uh, you don't know who I am, but I have a huge favor to ask you."

There was a chuckle on the other end. "How'd you get this number, Vaughn?"

"Um- I'm friends with Athena. And I needed to talk to you just to get someone else's number."

"I don't give out numbers to people I don't know."

"Listen- I'm friends with Jack. I just need to talk to his brother."

"If you're friends with Jack, how do I not know you?"

"I work with him. I'm on a lower level. We don't talk much. Just-" Vaughn wanted to scream, but he settled for just taking off his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Please. I'm stressed out enough to the point that I'm calling strangers. Just help me out."

There was a beat of silence. Vaughn thought she hung up, and was about to check when she said, "You're pretty desperate, huh?"

"Yeah, I am, admittedly. I just really need to talk to Timothy. It's about things that I haven't told anybody else."

Nisha gave another chuckle. "Okay. I'll give it to you. Hope it goes well, whatever it is. And for future reference, his last name isn't Hyperion. It's Lawrence. I'm letting you know so you don't make an ass of yourself."

She listed off the numbers and Vaughn made sure to put it in his notes, just like he did with Nisha's number before. He thanked her immensely before getting off the phone, relief flooding through him for a moment.

Vaughn stared at the number before him. Okay. This wasn't that weird. He had talked to Tim once before. It wasn't like they didn't get along, either. He seemed nice enough. Vaughn only hoped that Timothy didn't dismiss the idea of talking to him - or worse, completely ignore the call.

He dialed the numbers but waited to press the 'Call' button. What if Tim was at work or something? That would be normal, right? He seemed like the kind of guy to have a day job. It would make sense. People had day jobs. Vaughn had a day job and should be working - but nooo, no no no. As always, shit had to come up and steal his focus for the entirety of the day...

Vaughn took in a deep breath and held it in as he pressed the button, only letting it go when the phone started to ring.

"Hello?" The voice sounded like a lighter version of Jack's voice, more lilted, more friendly. It was a nice person's voice. Vaughn had no doubt it was Tim.

"Uh, hi." Vaughn fidgeted a little bit. "Is this- uh-" - he cleared his throat - "-is this Timothy Lawrence?"

There was silence on the other end for a moment. "How did you get my number if you don't know who I am?"

"I can explain, I just- I have to know if it's Tim or not."

"Uh... okay. Yeah, this is Tim."

"Hi. This is Vaughn. Vaughn Hardwick. The same guy who came to see your brother at the hospital. Rhys's best friend?"

"Oh, yeah, okay. Hi." There was another little silence for a moment before Tim said, "So, uh, about how you got my number...?"

"Right, right, I, uh, I got it from Nisha. And I got Nisha's number from Athena. Both of which I'm pretty sure you know?"

"Yeah, I do. But that still doesn't explain why you wanted my number in the first place."

"I needed- okay, this is gonna sound really stupid for a second."

"Shoot."

"I needed someone to talk to that wasn't my friend and was gonna be honest with me. And you were the first person I thought of. I don't really know why, but you were, so I had to call Athena, get Nisha's number, call Nisha, beg her for your number, and then I called you. All of which was giving me anxiety, considering that I don't even call my friends that much, let alone strangers, and I'm glad to finally almost be done with calling people."

There was a long silence before Tim spoke. "Dude, are you okay?"

"No! No, I'm not, really. The perfect little world I thought I had is crumbling around me and I'm currently mad at my best friend so I can't go to him for support. I mean, I couldn't in the first place, he doesn't even know..."

Tim sighed. "Okay, this sounds like... a lot. Like 'way-too-much-to-talk-about-over-the-phone' a lot. You wanna meet up somewhere and talk about this?"

"I'd like that, if you didn't mind."

"No, no, I don't mind at all. You sound like you could use some coffee, so, how about the café on Weston, y'know, North Child?"

"Uh, yeah, sure. Though Starbucks is closer..."

"Starbucks is for people who don't respect coffee for what it actually is and add all kinds of unnecessary crap to it, I.E., my brother. That man is an absolute monster when it comes to coffee- coffee isn't supposed to look like ice cream, right? I tell him all the time that he's gonna give himself diabetes from drinking all that wet dirt he calls coffee. He wouldn't know real coffee if it punched him in the mouth." Tim was quiet for a second. "Sorry. I got a little carried away there. I'm really passionate about coffee."

Vaughn laughed lightly, some of his nerves easing. "I can tell."

"It's one of my favorite things. But we can talk about that some other time. I'll be leaving in a few minutes, so I'll see you there?"

"Right. Yeah. You don't know how much I appreciate this. I mean, seriously, thank you so much."

Tim laughed a little. "No problem. I'll see you in a few."

—

Tim hung up his phone and pushed it back into his pocket. He felt strange, but not in a bad way. How else would someone feel if someone they only talked to once suddenly called them and wanted to pour their heart out?

He stood up and went to the door, stepping into his boots and tying them. He could leave and be back in time to make sure Angel got picked up, and even if he wasn't, Wilhelm could go and get her.

He made a face as he thought about Angel, pulling on his jacket. Angel was so extremely angry and upset with her father that she had decided to just stay with Tim and Wilhelm until she got over it. Jack had no choice but to agree, no matter how much it had bothered him.

He understood why she did it; he didn't blame her for wanting to distance herself from Jack. He wasn't sure what she was trying to do though. Was she purely just trying to stay away from her father? Was she keeping herself from him so he couldn't talk to her? Was she keeping herself from talking to him and saying something she didn't mean because she was angry?

Tim grabbed his keys and walked out the door. He had time to think about what was going on later. Right now, someone needed him, and he didn't want to waste time dicking around when someone could use his help.

He went to and started his car, revved the engine and began to drive to the café. He probably would get there before Vaughn would, so that would give him time to order a coffee and pick out a secluded table. Maybe the booth in the corner would work. It was comfortable and quiet. And visible no matter what entrance you used, so Vaughn would be able to see him just fine when he came in.

When he arrived at the café, Tim put in an order for two mochas - you couldn't go wrong with mocha - and went to the table in the corner. He slid into the booth and played on his phone, glancing up at the doors every few minutes or so, watching for Vaughn.

Did Tim even clearly remember what the guy looked like? He remembered a couple things... he had glasses, and he was short... Did he have dark hair? Was it dark or was it black? Wasn't he kinda pale? Maybe. Hopefully Tim would know him when he saw him. And hopefully, Vaughn remembered more than just Tim's name.

Tim glanced up and saw him - short guy with glasses, short, dark hair, a beard, and fair skin, wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans - and he held up his hand, calling, "Vaughn, over here."

Vaughn looked around for the voice that called his name, then settled on Tim. He gave a relieved smile as he came over, looking more than happy to see Tim.

"Thank you so much for coming here," Vaughn said as he slid into the booth, "and for actually letting me explain instead of completely shutting me out."

Tim shrugged. "I try to be good to everyone. I wanna be the kind of person that anyone can come to, whatever the reason, y'know? And I'm pretty sure you're a part of that 'anyone'."

Vaughn crossed his arms on the table. "Well, thank you for being that kind of person. People like you are hard to find nowadays."

Tim grinned. "Then aren't you glad you met me when you did?"

Vaughn laughed a little breathlessly. "Yeah. I am."

Tim put his cheek in his palm. "So. You wanna skip the part where we get to know each other and dive right into your stuff, or..?"

Vaughn laughed again, but this time it was more just a harsh bark than a laugh. "I think you'll get to know me pretty well when I'm telling you my problems."

Tim shrugged. "Fair enough. Hit me with it."

"I, uh..." Vaughn sat up some and started fidgeting his hands. "I have... a thing."

"Okay."

"It's a big thing. It's also kinda gross."

"I'm with you so far."

"And I've been hiding it from my friends for a while, and I don't want to, but it's hard when it involves one of your friends and she doesn't know and you don't wanna be that one weirdo who caught feelings and then was ultimately shunned from the group."

Tim nodded slowly. "Alright. I get that."

"Right. So... I'm a little tentative about telling anybody, let alone her. I can't even begin thinking about how I'm gonna tell her. If I'm gonna." Vaughn traced little circles on the table with his finger, not meeting Tim's eyes anymore. "To be honest, I've been entertaining the idea of getting rid of it altogether. Because, y'know, they can do that now. And it'd be a lot easier than spilling my guts out to her."

Timothy furrowed his brow. "Vaughn, are you telling me what I think you're telling me?"

Vaughn smiled some, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was wondering when you'd pick up on it."

Tim nodded. "Okay... how long have you been... y'know, in love?"

"Uh, about a year. It'll be a full year on the twenty-first."

"Okay. Who is she? To you, I mean."

"She's one of my closest friends. Her name is Fiona. I've known her for years and I've been trying to get closer to her, at least. I haven't really tried to talk to her about being in love, obviously. I can't bring myself to do it. She's not that kind of person in the first place."

"What kind of person is she, then?"

"Loud. Sassy. Kinda intolerant of me and Rhys. But she loves us. I think."

Tim nodded in understanding. "I can understand that."

"Yeah. Her sister, though, Sasha? Outta this world. Crazy. Like, she's the crazier version of Fiona. Ditto for her boyfriend, he's just as nuts. Or whatever the heck August is to her, I don't know anymore."

Tim nodded. "Okay. So Fiona is crazy, but her sister is crazier, and then this guy August is the taker of the crazy cake. Got it."

"Order for Timothy Lawrence," called one of the baristas.

Tim slid out of the booth and stood up. "You like mocha, right?"

Vaughn shrugged. "Not my favorite, but sure. I like it."

"Thank God. I ordered us both mochas. I was praying you liked it. But I'll be right back."

With that, Tim hurried to the counter to pick up the drinks and pay the bill, handing over his money quickly. He hastily walked back to the table where Vaughn waited, drumming his fingers on the table.

"You must walk really fast," Vaughn laughed, taking one of the drinks. "It feels like you were gone for only two seconds."

"Don't wanna waste any time," Tim replied as he sat down, taking a drink of his coffee and then almost scorching his tongue. He jumped back from the drink and set it down. "Okay, yeah, that was a bad idea. Why did you let me do that."

"You're your own man, dude, I'm not gonna tell you what to do."

"Good point." Tim pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth for a moment before saying, "Okay. Right. So you're in love. With a girl. Who's crazy. And she's not the kind of person to be in love with. Sound about right?"

"Hitting the nail on the head so far."

Tim traced the rim of his cup. "Well then. Maybe we should talk about how you fell in love with her in the first place and then maybe we can figure something out."

Vaughn nodded. "I guess that makes sense." He sighed with a wistful smile. "I think about it all the time. I always had thought of myself as someone who just wouldn't fall in love, y'know? Especially with so much going on in my life growing up, then starting my career so early... but then it happened. It was weird." He crossed his arms. "Let me set the stage for you. Take August, Sasha, and Fiona. They always wanted to do the craziest, most life-threatening stuff, and they asked Rhys and me to go with them. Rhys always wanted to, and he would drag me along so he wasn't alone, and I just felt like no one cared what I wanted or what was in my best interest too. Those people are the reason that I've almost died, like, a million times." He waited a few moments, taking a couple deep breaths before continuing. "But then there was this one time that Fiona wanted to go to this crazy demolition rally thing. She was gonna get to ride a motorcycle through the whole track and be up close and personal with the chaos, and she was super excited about it. She was getting to bring one extra person with her, and she wanted it to be me. Not her sister, not August, not Rhys, but me. It was kinda strange, now that I think about it." Vaughn smiled, eyes unfocused, staring blankly at something through the window behind Tim. "But she came to me and she was all, 'Dude, it's gonna be so cool, and you've gotta see it,' yadda yadda. And I was kinda on the fence, like, 'I don't know, I've got work, I need to be in one piece,' et cetera, et cetera. And then she looked me in the face and said, 'You don't have to make excuses. You don't have to go. I just really want you to be there with me.'" Vaughn put his chin in his palm. "It made my heart swell, man. It was the first time anyone had ever showed actual concern for what I wanted. It was a pretty big deal to me. So I said yes, because, why not? A cute girl wants to spend time with you, so you man up and go with her."

"To a demolition rally?"

Vaughn gave a small groan. "She's really special, okay? I wouldn't go to a demolition rally for anyone else."

Tim chuckled. "That's sweet. Proceed."

"Right. So we went. She was steering, and I was on the back of the bike, and we got so close to these monster vehicles destroying each other - there was shit flying at us left and right and it was so frickin' scary. I thought I was gonna lose it, had it not been for Fiona. She was really caring and she made sure I was alright and asked my permission before doing something she thought would freak me out. I know it's kinda dumb to get hung up on something so small, but to me, it was huge... And then, that night, as we were heading home - I was dropping her off at her house - she just smiled at me and told me she had fun and that she was glad to finally spend time with me. Which blew my mind. So I smiled at her and I said, 'Well, I'm always down to hang out, if you ever wanna do it again,' and then she laughed, kissed my cheek, told me goodnight, and disappeared into her house. Like it was nothing." He scoffed. "Well, to her, it probably was. But in my head, it meant so much - so much, in fact, that the next morning, I woke up with a brown, red, pink, and turquoise petal in my mouth. And there was literally no one else it could have been."

Tim reached over and put his hand on Vaughn's arm, smiling. "I think that's one of the sweetest things I've heard, ever."

Vaughn shrugged, smiling back a little bashfully. "Thanks, I guess. I don't really know how to think about it. It makes me feel like some heartsick fool, someone who fell for a girl who was just being nice."

"What if she loves you back?" Tim suggested, pulling his hand away.

"Pfff. Fiona? Loving me back? Please. She could have any guy she wants. That guy, without a doubt, isn't me."

Timothy pursed his lips. "Don't think like that. She'd be crazy to not at least think you're cute. I think you're cute."

"Thanks...?"

"You're cute, Vaughn. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Tell me if anyone does and I'll get my boyfriend to beat them up. He's huge."

Vaughn laughed. "Okay. I'll do that."

"Good." Tim took a gentle sip of his mocha, happy to find that it didn't burn his tongue this time. He clasped his hands together on the table after setting his coffee down. "But let's talk about this."

Vaughn nodded. "Okay. Let's talk."

Tim was about to open his mouth to suggest something when his phone started to ring, jingling from his coat pocket. He gave Vaughn an apologetic look as he pulled it out and answered it without looking at the caller ID. "Hello?"

"Hey, love." Wilhelm's voice sounded echo-y through the phone. Tim figured he was at his work, probably in the garage where he worked on the cars. "I'm about to be on my way home."

"Oh, uh, hi, honey," Tim responded, stumbling a little over his words. "I'm, uh, not home?"

"Are you at Jack's?"

"No, I'm- out? With a friend? I guess? It's weird, I don't know how to explain it- but I what I can tell you is that I won't be home in time to get Angel from school."

"I can just pick her up early and we could come to you?"

"I'd rather you didn't bring my niece to this, thank you. Can you just check her and Gaige out and drop them off at the mall? Just give them my card and tell them to go nuts. Then you can go home and wait for me."

Wilhelm groaned. "Honey, the only reason I'm leaving work early is to spend more time with you."

"Okay, then get the girls and you can come here. Maybe." Tim covered the receiving end of his phone and leaned towards Vaughn. "Can my boyfriend come?"

Vaughn shrugged. "I don't see why not."

"Thanks." Tim uncovered the receiver. "Just come here! I'm at the café. The one near our house. Maybe you can help me with what I'm doing!"

"What exactly are you doing, Tim?"

"Being a good person. Just get the girls, drop them off, then come here, okay? I'll explain when I can see your beautiful face."

Wilhelm groaned again. "You're so lucky I love you. So lucky."

Tim laughed a little. "I know. I'm so lucky to have a man that loves me. And that I love with every piece of me."

Wil laughed too. "Yeah, okay. I'll be there in a few. I love you."

"I love you too." Tim hung up and put his phone back in his pocket. "Sorry you had to see that. We're not as bad in person, I promise."

Vaughn shrugged. "I'm used to it. It doesn't bother me, don't worry."

"Oh, okay. Good. Because I was lying. I think we're worse in person."

The other man laughed, pushing his glasses up. "That's okay, too. It won't bother me. I'd rather you be yourself than put up some front. We're friends, right?"

Tim smiled. "Yeah. You've got a point."

Vaughn took another sip of his mocha. "So, enough about me. We can revisit my thing. Maybe I should get to know you more. How'd you meet your boyfriend?"

"We met while I was volunteering at an animal shelter when I was eighteen. He came in with a few strays that were hanging around his dad's work, and we immediately hit it off. He would come in to see me every few days, and we would just talk and talk... and then his dad passed away, and he got the house and car garage, because he was already over the legal age - he was twenty - and he needed someone to talk to. He came around even more, and I helped him through it, and we just... fell in love." Tim smiled. "It's nothing special, not as special as anyone else's story, but it's ours and it's my favorite."

Vaughn smiled. "That's really sweet."

"Thanks. I think so too." Tim smirked a little and took a drink of his coffee.

After about twenty minutes of just more talking, Wilhelm came through the door of the café. He came over quick and sat down, sliding into the booth beside Tim.

Tim smiled and leaned against his boyfriend. "Hey, you made it in one piece."

Wilhelm gave a grin in response, leaning his head on Tim's. "I did. Why, was that a concern?"

Tim nodded. "Always. I'm always afraid something's gonna happen to you."

"I'm a big guy. I'll be fine." Wilhelm nodded in Vaughn's direction. "Who's this?"

"Oh, right." Timothy put his hand on Wilhelm's bicep. "Vaughn, this is my boyfriend, Wilhelm." Timothy looked up at Wilhelm. "Wil, this is my friend, Vaughn."

"Nice to meet you," Vaughn said, offering his hand for Wilhelm to shake.

Wilhelm shook Vaughn's hand. "Nice to meet you, too. So, why did you guys decide to meet up?"

"He and Jack have something in common," Tim said, patting Wilhelm's arm. "About the Hanahaki Disease."

Wilhelm raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

Vaughn laughed nervously. "Well, um, you see, the thing is... I'm dumb, okay? And I needed to talk to somebody about how dumb I am. But that somebody couldn't be one of my friends, so I found Tim and we started to talk about how dumb I am."

"Okay... how dumb are you?" Wilhelm asked.

"It's been about a year." Vaughn sighed. "And she has no clue. At all."

"At least it hasn't been almost a decade." Wilhelm rolled his eyes. "A single year is better than almost seven."

"I suppose."  Vaughn crossed his arms. "I just need some help figuring out what I should do."

"Telling her is a good start," Wilhelm suggested.

"No," Tim said, bumping his boyfriend his elbow. "It's not that easy. Maybe you could ask her on a date or something?"

"Uh," Vaughn replied, sounding a little skeptical, "isn't that a little forward?"

"It's just a dinner. Or take her to a movie! Do something small and let her get a feel of things, a feel for it just being the two of you. Maybe it'll give her some good ideas about it, y'know?"

"Maybe... I'm just really scared. I don't wanna lose her because of something stupid like this."

"This isn't stupid," Wilhelm said, shrugging. "But I get what you're saying. You should definitely give it a shot though. Just so you know what you're up against."

"I understand. I just..." Vaughn sighed. "I just really can't stand the idea of ruining a friendship, especially not with her. She's one of my closest friends."

"Then you owe it to her to be honest with her," Tim concluded. He took a sip of his mocha and nodded. "So it's settled. You're taking her on a date, right?"

"I-I guess, yeah.."

"And you'll text us and update us, right?" Wilhelm questioned.

Vaughn furrowed his brow. "Uh, sure...?"

Wilhelm gave a look. "Don't judge me. I'm invested now. I wanna know."

Tim laughed. "I think he's just trying to be supportive, Vaughn. But you should keep us updated, okay?"

"I will," Vaughn promised, nodding as he stood up. "I'm not sure when I'll give it a shot, but... thanks for listening to me drone about my problems, though."

Tim shrugged, smiling. "It's nothing, don't worry about it. Thanks for trusting and confiding in me, bud."

Vaughn smiled, taking his mocha. "My pleasure. I'll see you around, okay?"

"See ya. Be careful."

Vaughn waved as he walked away, leaving the café behind.

Wilhelm turned his head to look down at Tim. "He seems nice."

Tim nodded. "He's a good guy. And Jack seems to like him, so that's a plus." Tim looked up at his boyfriend. "How were the girls?"

"Happy to get out of school early," Wilhelm laughed, shaking his head. "And happy to fill up your credit card statement. I'm sure they're having a blast."

"Well, that's good, at least. I'm probably gonna regret giving them my card, though."

"I feel like you should've known that the moment you said it." Wilhelm stood up and pulled Tim with him. "Let's get home. I wanna do things before we go get the girls."

Tim raised an eyebrow, playfully suspicious. "What kind of things?"

"Adult things."

"Like paying taxes?"

"Oh my God," Wilhelm groaned, walking away. "Just follow me home before I change my mind."

Tim grabbed his mocha and followed close behind. "Okay, okay, I'm following. Learn to take a joke, will ya?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tim and Vaughn being best friends is my favorite thing. Also Tim and Gladstone. That too. Oof.
> 
> The café's name, North Child, is in reference to the Rhysothy one-shot "North Child Espresso and Cocktail Bar," which is literally INCREDIBLE and I recommend it, 10/10.
> 
> But this fanfiction is going on an indefinite hiatus. I need to seriously think about some things before I continue. I know it's been a while since my last update, but I really need to think about things and this fanfiction has been at the back of my mind. I'm so sorry. I'll be working hard to put out more content soon.
> 
> Merry (late) Christmas, and Happy New Year!! <3


End file.
